Project Alpha
by Clare
Summary: This is a round robin fic I co-wrote with some people on the Complete The Story Forum at the currently defunct forumnation.com and it's something of a post-apocalyptic tale set in the world of Pokemon
1. Chapter One

﻿ 

_Before going any further, I'd better explain that this is an add-on fic I co-wrote with some people at the Complete the Story forum on a site called Pokemon Village. It's a roleplay, which means everyone who contributes writes as one of the characters; I - my name's Chiquitita on that forum - played Melissa and the rest of the cast are as follows:_

Ben - Crazy Bear McGubbins  
Stan - Ozey Osbourne  
Marle - Pikacar  
Leon - Death 12  
Monica - Linky  
Kohaku - Vulpixgirl  
Drake - Sir Glenn

Keep in mind that a lot of this was written off the top of each author's head. And I'm not trying to claim I wrote ALL of it - that's why I included the Cast List. I have tidied the sentence structure and continuity up in places where it needed it, but otherwise I've left other people's posts pretty much as they were originally.

**

Chapter One

**

**Melissa**

To be perfectly honest, I didn't give Project Alpha much thought until I found myself among the fifty or so individuals "volunteered" for it. All I knew was that some organisation was selecting people to be taken to an undisclosed location - I also gathered that it was miles from anywhere - and left to live without newspapers, tv, radio or the Internet for a whole year. That was why it came as such a shock when that letter, that ominous white envelope with the Project Alpha logo on the back, arrived at our house.

It was my mum who found it and gave it to me as soon as I got back from shopping with my friends. As I read the first sentence, I felt a chill run down my back . . .

_You have been selected to take part in a year-long project . . ._ Those twelve words would, although I didn't know it at the time, ultimately decide whether I lived or died. But, for now, I just turned to my mum, disbelief etched on my face.

"There must be some mistake," I said. "I'm barely sixteen - they wouldn't choose kids, would they?"

My mum agreed and got straight on the phone to Project Alpha - I left the room, but I could still hear her shouting and swearing at the person on the other end. Finally, she returned and looked at me solemnly, letting me know there had been no mix-up. I had definitely been selected for Project Alpha - and attendence was compulsory. I read the last sentence in the letter:

_Please note that anyone who fails to report for the project once selected will incur a mandatory $100,000 fine._

I knew then that I had no choice but to try and stick it out, even though it tore my heart in two to think I wouldn't see my mum for a whole year. I would just have to make the best of it, starting by sorting my stuff out ready for when the Project Alpha car came to collect me first thing in the morning.

My mum helped me pack, putting my summer clothes in one case and my winter clothes in another. In addition to clothes, I was allowed to bring a small bag of toiletries, up to three books, a few small personal items and no more than two Pokemon. As I surveyed the Poke Balls containing my Pidgeotto and Sunflora, I thought of what that letter could mean for me - and for them.

After tonight, I would be removed from civilisation for a year - and anything could happen in that time. For a moment, I felt afraid and crept downstairs to where my mum was watching a movie on television.

"Mum," I whispered, feeling like I used to feel when I was little and had a nightmare. "Mum, I'm scared."

She hugged me. "I know, Melissa," she told me. "But this is something you can't back out of - and at least you'll have Pidgeotto and Sunflora for company."

The next morning, just after I had finished breakfast, a car drew up outside our house and two men got out (I thought they looked like scientists). "Miss Melissa Edwards?" one of them asked.

"Yes - that's me," I replied.

"Project Alpha," the other man said as they both flashed their IDs at me. "We're here to take you to the airport from which you will be taken to the Location."

"The Location" was what they had dubbed the top-secret place where the Project Alpha guinea pigs would be spending the next twelve months. I wondered where that was but didn't ask - I would find out soon enough anyway. I patted the pockets where I had put Pidgeotto and Sunflora's Poke Balls and climbed into the car.

I waved to my mum as the car pulled away, little suspecting that I would never see her again . . .

* * *

**Ben**

It had been a week since I'd tried my luck at the Ecruteak Gym against Morty and his ghosts and the defeat was still hanging over me like one of Gengar's Curses.

I had to beat that kid if I wanted to continue on my journey and get into the Johto League, but he could interact with his Pokemon like no-one I'd ever met before. And the fact that my Pokemon couldn't even touch his team of Ghosts didn't help matters. It wasn't that they were weak - well, maybe it was, but that was beside the point - but, no matter what strategy I tried, Morty turned it back in my face. I would have been stuck in Ecruteak Pokemon Centre eating cold burgers and soggy fries for the rest of eternity at this rate. Which is why the letter came as such a shock.

Still, when I picked it up from almost annoyingly chirpy Nurse Joy, I figured Mum had sent me cookies or something after reading my letter about how I had lost out to Morty. Instead, it instructed me to take two Pokemon outside with me and wait.

If that seemed strange at the time, the fact that a car turned up a few minutes later and some guys in black suits ushered me in really freaked me out. I just sat quietly on the seat and tried to figure out what Morty would do in a situation like this as they drove off.

* * *

**Stan**

The words turned over in my mind: year away from humanity . . . two Pokemon and a select group of humans are your only companions . . . $100,000 fine. The last sentence bore into me like a power drill. How did a tough street kid raise that amount of money?

I had to go - what did I have to lose? The car pulled up to the grotty alley, amazingly with all the gleaming blacked-out windows still intact - I figured it had bulletproof glass, a necessity round here for anyone without a death wish.

A deep seething hatred pulsed in my soul as memories came flooding back to me. "Be good, Stan - I'm just going out for a movie shoot. Mummy loves you!"

I started crying. Mummy never left me and my brother in the mansion own our own before. I was scared, wondering what Tyler would do to me. "No! Don't leave me, Mummy!" I yelled.

"Don't worry, sweetie - it'll all be fine . . ."

I pulled myself together and tried to stop thinking about fake dreams and fake memories. I forced myself to believe I had been born here. I never knew a mother and I had no older brother. I had always lived here.

I blinked the tears from my scowling face and pulled open the door. As I sat in the shiny white seats, the face of the driver stared through me like an x-ray. "Project Alpha?" he asked. "I'm your team-mate. How old are you?"

"Sixteen," I replied.

"Twenty-one. What's your name?"

I took a deep breath, rubbed the Poke Balls containing my stolen Nidoking and my baby Growlithe and gritted my teeth. "Stan - Stan Banks," I said.

"Tyler - Tyler Banks. Let's ride!"

* * *

**Marle**

I snuck through the door at the Pokemon Center as someone left through it. In my black leather pants and jacket, I was nearly invisible in the Johto darkness. No-one knew my purpose, my name or my history - except me and I planned to keep it that way.

I walked boldly up to the counter and tossed down two Poke Balls. "Heal 'em," I muttered with a snarl to the startled Nurse Joy.

She recovered quickly and told me I had a letter. I stopped in mid-turn. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I was told to give this to a young lady dressed all in black when she came in," Nurse Joy replied.

I almost laughed out loud. "Young lady?" I thought. "You've GOT to be kidding!"

I opened my letter. _Dear Marle . . ._ it began. I almost had a heart attack.

* * *

**Melissa**

All I could think as I climbed up the steps to the plane was that I was leaving all I had ever known behind for a year. I tired to be brave, knowing the last thing my mum would want to see was tears at the thought of being separated from her.

However, some of my fellow Project members were not so restrained. One girl, who couldn't have been more than ten years old but had been chosen anyway, screamed hysterically as they forced her up the steps and it took the cabin crew several minutes to calm her down. It made me wonder just what criteria Project Alpha had used for selecting its human guinea pigs.

A lady in a navy blue suit checked off my name and directed me to Seat 11F on the right hand side of the plane. I found myself seated next to a girl about my own age who looked as bewildered as I felt to be called up so abruptly and taken away from my family.

Nevertheless, I decided I better at least try to make friends with her - after all, we would be together 24/7 for the next year. "Hi," I said nervously. "I didn't expect to be here, did you?"

She smiled in an attempt to mask her fear. "No - none of us did," she told me. "That lot just sent us all letters - and here we are. I'm Marle, by the way."

"Melissa Edwards," I told her. I would have said more, but the cabin crew had started the safety demonstration (you know, showing us what to do if the plane crashed or something) and needed everyone's full attention. Then, we started to taxi along the runway, building up speed until, finally, the plane took off, taking us on a journey to an unknown part of the world.

Gradually, the airport and the surrounding area grew further and further away, until all I could see out of the window was what looked like a child's toys . . .

The flight itself proved uneventful and I spent most of the time talking to Marle, wondering where we were headed and why we had been chosen. As far as I could tell, no-one on the plane was exceptional in any way - we were just a bunch of people thrown together at random to take part in this Project.

Towards midnight (the journey to the airport had taken the greater part of a day) we landed at a small airport. I had no idea where we were, but something told me this wasn't where we were going to end up. Looking round at my immediate neighbours - Marle and two boys named Ben and Stan - I could tell they were equally puzzled.

"Hey! What gives?" asked Stan. "The letter said the flight would take about twelve hours and . . ." He paused to look at his watch. " . . . it hasn't even been six yet."

I know," I said. "Don't you guys think this is a little . . . weird?"

"Weird?" echoed Marle. "What do you mean, Melissa?"

I looked round at them. "Well," I began, "none of us asked to be here - they just singled us out, but for what? All I know is that we're supposed to be dropped off somewhere and . . ."

I broke off when I saw a member of the cabin crew coming. Something told me that there was a lot more to Project Alpha than just leaving a group of Pokemon trainers in the middle of nowhere, but I wasn't sure how to broach the subject. Instead, I asked the question I knew everyone was longing to ask. "Excuse me . . . um, have we arrived yet?"

The lady shook her head. "No," she said. "We've just stopped here to refuel - once that's done, we'll fly straight through to the Location."

While we waited, we decided we might as well let our Pokemon out of their Poke Balls. I released Pidgeotto and Sunflora as the others did the same with their Pokemon and we sat comparing them. In those circumstances, it was almost inevitable that a Pokemon battle would follow.

It was me who ending up challenging Stan's Nidoking with my Pidgeotto. Everyone cleared a space in the aisle and we began.

"Pidgeotto - Wing Attack!" I called, watching as she flew at Nidoking with her wings outstretched ready to fight. I had raised her from a Pidgey and I had always been very proud of her.

"Nidoking - Body Slam!" Stan countered. In response, his Nidoking charged at Pidgeotto, ready to knock her flying. Talking of flying . . .

"Pidgeotto - Fly out of range!" I ordered. "Then . . . get ready to ambush Nidoking!"

But, before Pidgeotto could make a move, the pilot's voice came over the speakers. "Your attention please. We have completed our refuelling stop and will be taking off again in ten minutes. Please return to you seats and put any loose Pokemon back in their Poke Balls . . ."

Reluctantly, I pointed Pidgeotto's Poke Ball at her. "Pidgeotto - return!" I ordered, watching as she disappeared in a flash of light. Right now, I wished I could retreat into a Poke Ball . . .

* * *

**Ben**

"Well, this beats hanging around Ecruteak Gym getting whupped by Morty anyway."

I tried to make conversation with Stan, but he just glared at me and muttered under his breath. "I would say this beats joyriding, but, to be honest, it doesn't," he told me.

OK then, I thought to myself. "Still, that Nidoking of yours is pretty neat . . ." I tried to continue.

"Do you think I'd have stolen it if it was a weakling like that puny Larvitar I saw you with earlier?" he shot back.

I tried to stay calm as I clenched my fists by my side and lay back in the seat. Just ignore the guy and don't cause trouble, my conscience told me. "Well, yeah - Larvitar needs to evolve first. But, when it does, it'll be ace!"

Stan snorted. "I doubt it!"

I seriously felt like punching him in the face, but I had no follow up to it. "Maybe we can have a battle when we get there and you can see my other Pokemon," I suggested.

Stan just muttered something and turned away. I began to wonder whether this really was better than hanging around Ecruteak after all.

* * *

**Stan**

Thoughts, memories and supressed emotions tumbled round my head to the unwanted backing track of Ben's mind-numbingly cheerful voice droning on in my ear. When he started to talk about the toys he had smuggled in for his Larvitar, I lost it.

"Just back off, you deluded clown!" I snapped.

He paused, attempted a hurt look and smiled. "I know," he said. "The rates at Pokepals are awful, aren't they?"

"Jesus Christ!" I shot back. "Can't you see I hate you? Do I have to spell it out? I - would - rather - kill - my - Growlithe - than - have - a - conversation - with - you! Leave me alone, you moron!" I turned to face the window and went back to my anger.

I didn't have to be here, I told myself - but I did. No-one would help me; I had no friends, only lackeys. If Ben was the only person in all creation who liked me, who gave a damn?

Not me! "I don't need any friends! You hear me? I don't - get away from me!"

I buried my face in my hands, not looking at the crowd of people gathered around me - Marle, Melissa and Ben.

"My friends," I muttered bitterly. "My only friends." Then I screamed inside as I broke down in fits of uncontrollable agony.

* * *

**Monica**

I was a loner. I used to have many friends before, but that was all in the past and I didn't regret leaving them. They had hurt me, after all, like all people did. I wasn't depressive or anything - I was just a loner.

I was a Pokemon trainer, a VERY strong one. I had never faced defeat and did not know what it was like to lose in a Pokemon battle. I just knew what it was like to be a winner. I was also a rebel - or at least that's what my mom used to say. No-one could rule me since I ruled over all.

I clutched a Poke Ball in my hand. "Time to take you to the Pokemon Center," I said. I jumped up and got on my motorcycle.

Nurse Joy was already waiting for me. "How was your day?" she asked with a smile.

"Fine," I replied sharply.

Nurse Joy kept on smiling but soon noticed the Poke Ball in my hand. "Someone defeated your Pokemon!" she gasped.

No, it's just poisoned - heal it," I ordered.

I waited in the lobby until Nurse Joy came out with the Poke Ball in her hand. "Your Pokemon is back to perfect status," she said.

"OK," I said. I turned around and was about to leave.

"Wait up!" Nurse Joy called after me. "This letter is for you." She raised her hand, which was holding a white envelope.

I took it from her hand. "Thanks," I murmured as I gazed at the letter. _You have been chosen for Project Alpha. Wait for us at your current location and we will pick you up there._

"Project Alpha?" I asked. "What is this about?"

"I don't know - I was just told to give you the letter."

Soon, a black car stopped in front of me. "Monica?" a voice asked.

"Yes?"

"We're from Project Alpha," a man dressed like a scientist said. "We're here to pick you up."

"Whoa!" I said. "You guys amaze me! But I must say I'm not interested."

"You will have to pay if you don't agree to come," the man told me.

"How much? I can give you whatever you ask," I said as I took out my wallet.

"It would be $100,000." They smiled - maybe they thought that would make me give in.

"That can be arranged," I said with a grin.

I saw a look of disgust on their faces. "I'm sorry, we will have to take you."

"I said I was going to pay!" I retorted.

"You will come with us!" they said as they injected something into my arm. I became dizzy and felt asleep.

I slowly opened my eyes. As everything came into view, I felt as if I was somehow flying. I looked round and saw many people around me, each with different expressions on their faces. I sighed and stared out my window.


	2. Chapter Two

﻿ 

**

Chapter Two

**

**Leon**

I strolled into the Pokemon Center. My arm hurt like heck, but besides that I was fine. "Excuse me, nurse, but could you heal these too?" I asked, hitting my arm to numb the pain slightly.

"Sure," Nurse Joy replied. "And what's wrong with your arm? Did you get hit with a Tackle or something?"

"Yeah, but I'll be fine," I said, turning to leave.

"I almost forgot! Here - this arrived for you earlier," Nurse Joy said as she handed me the letter. The letter read:

_Leon, stay where you are. You are now to be picked up. Project Alpha._

Twenty minutes later, a black sedan pulled up outside and two men emerged, one of them wielding a desert eagle. "Leon, come with us," the first man said.

I spat at him in disgust. "I don't answer to you - or your superiors!" I shot back.

* * *

**Ben**

As the plane continued towards its unnamed destination, I realised I didn't fit into this whole Porject Alpha farce. Everyone else around here was suffering from a serious attitude problem.

Actually, maybe that was a bit harsh. Melissa seemed OK, but I hadn't talked to her yet so I couldn't be sure. As for the others - Marle kept looking at everyone supsiciously, Stan had just chewed me out for making a little light conversation and Leon looked as though he'd put a gun to the head of anyone who approached him. The other girl was a bit of an enigma, however - she was sitting way back from the rest of us, staring out the window even though there was nothing to see in the pitch blackness.

Maybe we were the dregs of society and they were flying us out to some government lab to hold tests on us to see what makes us tick. Perhaps, if I had been a better trainer, I wouldn't be on this plane with the juvenile equivalent of the Usual Suspects.

* * *

**Melissa**

Finally, just as the sun started to peer over the horizon, we landed on a remote sirstrip. It was too dark to see much, but from what I could make out, we seemed to be somewhere in the mountains. There was no sign of civilisation - no cars zooming past, no lights from nearby towns. There was nothing for miles around except us.

A man in a grey suit boarded the plane. He was Professor Sidney Dole, the director of Project Alpha and the person whose signiture had been on the letter I had been sent. "Your attention please, Alpha members," he said. "In five minutes, you will leave the plane three at a time. When your names are called, please collect your belongings and make your way down the steps onto the runway, where the Project Alpha bus is waiting."

He took a list out of his briefcase and began calling our names in no apparent order. "Ben Tyler! Marle Smith! Melissa Edwards!" On hearing our names, Marle, Ben and myself got out of our seats and made our way out onto the tarmac. I was torn between relief at being let off the plane at long last and the knowledge that, since I was one of the first off, I would have to wait round for the others . . .

When we had all disembarked, we were led to the bus and driven even further into the unknown. We tried to keep our spirits up with sing-songs and guessing games, but both soon petered out - I guess we were thinking too much about the things we'd left behind and wouldn't see again for another year. Instead, we sat in silence for the half-hour trip.

Eventually, we drew up at what looked like an old military base with twenty wooden huts surrounded by a high wire fence. Looking around, I instinctively knew that this was it. This was the Location, my home for the next year.

* * *

**Ben**

"Anyone else reminded of that film when they look at this place?" I said aloud as we stood outside the compound.

"Reminds me of Apocalypse Now," Marle replied.

"Well . . . yeah, I guess," I conceded. "But I was thinking more of Herbie Rides Again."

Marle snorted and released her Umbreon and Espeon before starting to walk towards the compound. "Aren't you going to wait for the others?" Melissa called after her.

Marle turned and shrugged. "Why should I? I don't know any of them and besides I want to check this place out."

I watched her walk off. None of the guards, or whatever they were, seemed to be in any hurry to stop her so I guessed I might as well go too.

"Well, I guess I'll catch you later," I told Melissa as I ran after Marle.

* * *

**Melissa**

They divided everyone into groups of three and assigned us to our huts. I was put in a hut with Marle and another girl. All I knew about the latter was that she was called Monica and she didn't talk much.

The huts were pretty basic, just three beds with a cupboard beside each one for our personal belongings. Exhausted after having been on the go for nearly twenty-four hours, I kicked off my shoes and lay down on the nearest bed.

"Just like a holiday camp, eh?" joked Marle as she sat on her bed stroking her Espeon.

"Yeah," I added. "Fancy a go on the karaoke?"

We all laughed at that, thereby defusing some of the tension that that pervaded among us. Even Monica, who was standing glumly by the window, managed to raise a smile. "Guess we'll have to make the best of it," she said, speaking for the first time since I'd seen her on the plane.

She hadn't wanted to join Project Alpha - none of us had. But she had tried to escape when they came to collect her so she had to be sedated. That was why I had overlooked her at first.

Ben seemed OK, but Stan had what could only be described as an attitude problem. I hoped he could learn to get along with the rest of us because, whether he liked it or not, he was stuck with us for the next year.

I sighed and looked down at Pidgeotto and Sunflora's Poke Balls, wondering what thoughts - of any - went through a Pokemon's head while it was inside its ball. "It's been a weird day," I said.

Little did I know that, before this year was out, I would see several days that were even weirder . . .

* * *

**Stan**

The guards were neutral. Everything was neutral; there were no laws, only us, our Pokemon and the Location. In the wild, there were no laws and we were in the wild.

Finally, the crowd dispersed and the remaining people were sorted into groups of three and twenty-four Divisions. My Division contained me, Marle, Melissa, Monica, Ben and Leon. We were a petty thief, an anarchic enigma on a Harley Davison, two practical unknowns and someone who looked like a homicidal maniac from a mental asylum. We were the Gamma Division.

* * *

**Marle**

I stopped suddenly and started to laugh. Melissa skidded to a stop before running into me and we tumbled into a pile. "What in the world is wrong with you?" she asked, looking at me like I'd lost my mind.

Trying to control my laughter, I replied. "I didn't notice at first in all the confusion, but they called me Marle Smith," I said when I could speak coherently.

"What's wrong with that? Isn't that your name?" asked Melissa, still puzzled.

"Nope!" I replied, still giggling. "I was pretty impressed by their research when they found out my real first, but evidently that's where it stopped . . ."

"So, what is your last name?"

My face darkened immediately. "That's for me to know and you NOT to find otu!"

Shocked, Melissa backed away. I gathered my Poke Balls from the ground where they had fallen and set off again. "Umbreon! Espeon! Come!" I called.

* * *

**Melissa**

I finally caught up with Marle round the back of the huts that had been put aside for Project Alpha staff. "Look," I said, grabbing her by the arm. "I know there's something you're not telling me - what is it?"

She sighed. "I guess you might as well know," she said reluctantly.

"Know what?" I demanded.

"Melissa . . ." she began. "Melissa, I'm a . . . Timeseer - I can sort of see things that are gonna happen in the future and - and, when I was on that plane last night, I had a dream . . .

I gasped - I'd vaguely heard of the Timeseers (they were supposed to be a race of people with the gift of precognition), but I'd never really believed they existed. "What did you dream?" I asked, instinctively knowing that, whatever it was, it was bound to be bad.

Marle hesitated for a moment. "I - I saw a great plague unleashed on the world," she said at last. "Everything it affected died - humans and Pokemon. I also sense that Project Alpha is mixed up in it somehow - maybe they knew it was coming and wanted to make sure SOME of us survived at least."

I struggled to take it all in. Just before I left home, the papers had been full of warnings about terrorist groups acquiring biological weapons, only no-one ever gave it much thought - at least I don't recall anyone being too worried in my neighbourhood. But, from what Marle was saying, it sounded as if those fears might come true.

"It's not easy being a Timeseer," Marle went on. "My parents used to treat me like a freak, so I left home as soon as I could . . ."

We looked at each other for several moments, wondering just what everything that had happened lately meant for us. Finally, I broke the silence. "Do you think they chose us because we're . . . special in some way?" I asked.

"I don't know," Marle replied. "I've been thinking though - and I'm pretty sure they chose me because I can see into the future. As for the others, it's probably in their data files and we have to get it."

"But we could get in trouble for doing something like that," I protested.

Marle grinned at me. "I know," she said. "Are you in or are you out?"

I had to say I was "in" - after all, I needed to know the truth no matter what it was. "I think we'd better get the others to help," I added cautiously. "I think Ben, Stan, Leon and Monica would be best . . ."

And, with that, me and Marle went off to find the other members of Gamma Division.

* * *

**Leon**

"How did they find out about me? I wondered out loud. "I mean, I might as well not even exist - I've got hardly anything saying where I was born or when. And how did they find me?"

* * *

**Melissa**

It didn't take long for us all to get together, but we now faced the problem of distracting the staff long enough for us to do what we had to do. It was Stan who came up with the answer; his Growlithe would start a fire in a waste bin, which should cause enough of a diversion for us to hack those files.

"Good," I said. "And Marle can stand guard since she can "see" into the future. The rest of us will work on cracking that password."

With the man whose office held the main Project Alpha computer called away to deal with the fire caused by Stan's Growlithe, we sneaked into his office and booted up his computer. The words **Enter Password** appeared on the screen and we all racked our brains trying to think what that word might be.

"Um . . ." Monica said as she typed **Alpha** into the keyboard and pressed enter. Seconds later, the words **ACCESS DENIED** flashed up in huge red letters. "Damn!" Monica cursed as Leon elbowed her out of the way.

"Let me try," he said. But the same thing happened to him and to all of us. We were stuck - and we knew we only had a short amount of time before the man whose office it was came in and caught us.

Then, I had an idea. "OK," I said. "The obvious passwords aren't working, but they'd hardly use something anyone could crack. I think we'd better try a different approach." With that, I sat down at the keyboard and typed **ZBYTOMD KVZRK**. Then, I pressed Enter and waited . . .

To my delight, the screen flashed and the words **Welcome to project Alpha** appeared. Ben grinned at me. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"It's called Deca code," I explained. "You take the letters of the alphabet and substitute the one that's ten places higher than the one you want. Pretty neat, eh?"

"Whatever," said Monica. "Just . . . let's get on with this."

I pulled up a list of files containing the names of people chosen for Project Alpha. I clicked on Stan's first since his surname was first alphabetically and a complete dossier on him appeared on the screen, giving his birthdate and everything. It even said that he was extremely streetwise . . .

I went through everyone's files. Monica was here because she had a perfect record in Pokemon battles and had never been defeated. Ben and Leon both had high IQs and I . . .

I wasn't sure I really wanted to know what my part in all this was, but I clicked my name anyway and watched as my stats appeared on the screen:

* * *

**Ben**

Before any of us could see why Melissa had been chosen, Marle ran into the room. "Get that thing off - we've got company!" she yelled.

"Where are they?" Leon asked immediately as Melissa started logging out quickly.

"They don't know we're here yet, but in a minute Melissa's going to trip a hidden alarm in that computer," Marle told us quickly. As one we all turned to look at the computer screen, which suddenly emitted a harsh beep as Melissa accidentally failed to compensate for one of the system's hidden security measures.

"Oops!" Melissa said as a terrible wailing siren kicked in from a speaker out in the corridor.

"If only you'd mentioned that a couple of minutes earlier . . ." Stan grumbled.

"There's no time for that - we have to get out of here!" Marle ran back out into the corridor, followed by Leon and Stan; I was about to follow them, when Melissa gave a cry of dismay. I'd forgotten she was still at the computer and now her profile was frozen in place on the screen so they'd know who had been accessing the terminal.

"The system's not responding," she told me. "It locked me out and it's stuck on that stupid screen!"

"Just kill the mains supply!" I said, frantically searching behind the computer for any kind of power outlet. I located the plug and yanked it out so the screen went dead.

"Will that stop them from tracing us?" Melissa asked.

"We don't have time for that at the moment," I told her as we dashed out of the door and after the others.

* * *

**Monica**

I didn't really seem to fit in at all. I gaze out the window as a couple of people passed by and stared at me as they whispered something. They thought I was weird because I was different from all of them and I was usually by my window, staring at the nothingness. They had even given me the nickname Window Girl - that didn't bother me, but it wasn't a very original name. It was just that it somehow helped me think - staring at the nothingness, I mean.

I turned around, threw myself onto my bed and lay there staring at the ceiling for a few minutes. I didn't care what they thought really, as long as I was happy with myself and nothing ruled over me. That was what had been bothering me lately though - THEY seemed to rule over me. Those Project Alpha people had taken me out here against my will, which meant they had taken control of some part of my life. There weren't many rules to break, but we lived under THEIR standards.

I tried to run away before I was taken here, but they sedated me and I ended up falling asleep. Now, there was no way I could return to where I was supposed to be, where I would have had a perfect life as a trainer and, maybe, joined the Elite.

I turned my gaze towards the six Poke Balls that lay on a table in front of me, each one attached to a belt, and wondered if there were any Pokemon to fight in this place. Somehow I was attracted to Dark, Ghost and Psychic Pokemon; I had even taught my Charizard to use a Psychic Attack.

I wondered if there were any trainers worth my time here. I used to make my Pokemon gain strength by making them fight wild Pokemon and they used to train with me - with me as a target, I mean. Somehow, I didn't get hurt.

I thought back to the day when Melissa and Marle came in, panting for air. Both girls were - not that I was starting to think of them as friends or even like them - the only people in the world who could make me laugh. I stared at them both, confused.

"Um, what's wrong?" I asked in a barely audible voice.

"Earth . . . disaster . . . Project Alpha . . . your help," both of them said between gasps.

I raised an eye-brow - Iwas not buying it. "You need MY help?" I demanded.

After a while of explaining, I agreed to help. Everyone in Gamma Division got together and made a plan. We all sneaked onto the main computer while the man who took care of it was dealing with a fire. Somehow, Melissa managed to get through the computer's security and we all checked to see why we had been brought to this place. I grinned to myself as I heard I was here because of my record in Pokemon battles.

The boys each checked their names, but, just when we were about to check on Melissa's, Marle ran in and told us to escape as soon as possible.

"Gamma Division, you are needed at the front desk!" a man called through the intercom. We all groaned and complained, but we had no choice but to do as he said.

When we reached the front desk, we found a lot of men dressed like soldiers standing in front of us.

* * *

**Stan**

I guessed the idea of the Divisions was to form three couples - Ben with Monica, Leon with Melissa (whom he obviously loved) and that left me and Marle.

I looked at her as the sargeant ranted. She smiled, but I turned away with a scowl. It couldn't be her I was supposed be paired with - I was Stan Banks, leader of a street gang, and she was Marle. Our eyes met again, before the sergeant's barking commands brought me back to reality.


	3. Chapter Three

﻿ 

**

Chapter Three

**

**Ben**

"Just act calm, like they haven't found out we hacked into their system and just want a nice friendly chat," I told myself as we all stood waiting to see what would happen.

This place was starting to change me - I was even starting to think like Stan and Leon. "Got that right, kiddo!" my conscience told me.

I unconsciously nodded, then checked myself - since when did I ever say "kiddo?" This was getting way too weird.

"Is there a problem . . . er . . . Ben?" the man who I assumed was in charge asked after consulting a piece of paper which I suspected had the names of the people in Gamma Division on it.

I blinked in surprise and shook my head as I realised what was going on.

"That's "No, Sir!", Tyler!" one of the other men barked, glaring at me.

I wondered why I was acting like this. "Because you're miles from home in some kind of military installation and you still want to be the same dumb schmuck you always were?" my brain suggested.

At that point, I snapped. "Stop calling me that!" I yelled out loud. All round the room, stares fixed on my. The commander or lieutenant - whatever he was - raised an eyebrow at me. "Something you want to share with the group, Ben?"

"I . . . uh . . . no - I mean . . ." I knew before I started the sentence that I wouldn't be able to finish it, so I turned and ran out the door.

"Tyler! Get back here this instant!" one of the soldiers screamed after me. But his superior stopped him.

"Let him go," I heard him say from outside. "I'll talk to him later. Now, as for the rest of you . . ."

He'd brushed the incident aside just like that. I was insignificant, hardly worth the bother of fetching back. In fact, the only person in the room who paid any attention at all was Stan. It was his incessant sniggering that echoed in my ears as I hurried away to lie down.

* * *

**Stan**

"Stop calling that idiot Tyler! There's only one Tyler around here - and you can call me Sir!"

The gleaming sneer turned to my face and the cold, remorseless eyes burned into my soul. Tyler Banks - I forced myself to forget our relationship - had entered the room. He smiled - or at least turned up his mouth. His eyes stayed motionless.

"Do you know why you're here?" he asked.

"Because we hacked the computer system?" suggested Monica, smiling confidently. Leon turned to her and smacked her on the side of the head. Then, he helped her up.

"Sorry," he muttered.

My brother glared at them and turned back to face me. "As a punishment for your antic, you will be facing me and my officers," he announced. "We are the Alpha Division . . ."

* * *

**Ben**

As I lay on my bed, I wondered if I had had a nervous breakdown or something. Anyway, I was getting fed up with this dumb Project Alpha fast and I figured it was time to quit moping and take action for once.

I rolled off the bed and pulled off my pillowcase to use as a bag. I put the food we had been given for the week into it and reached into my pocket to check Chinchou and Larvitar were still there. I wondered where I would go once I had run away . . .

Stan would probably have a ball when he found out I had left - and, for some reason, that troubled me. I stopped to reconsider on my way out - did I really want to run away and make myself seem like more of an idiot than I already was? I just didn't know any more . . .

* * *

**Marle**

I instantly plummeted from relief (that the others had stopped before they found my last name in the computer) to terror. If my vision was correct, who knew what these people were capable of; there was no way this would ever be a fair fight.

Nevertheless, I was bound and determined to do whatever I had to do to fight these people. I stared at Alpha Division with a defiant gleam in my eyes and flipped up the collar of my leather jacket.

"Bring it on," I whispered with a growl.

* * *

**Stan**

I locked eyes with my brother and threw the Poke Ball at the floor. Nidoking appeared in a blaze of light.

I wouldn't risk my Growlithe. Although I didn't admit it, he was the thing I cared for most in the whole world. I had raised him from a baby - he was the son of an Arcanine that belonged to an old man we mugged. The man had a heart attack and his Arcanine pined to death. I took the defenceless baby and hid it in my arms.

Tyler's Charizard blazed hellfire at my Nidoking. I was losing, but, as I watched, Marle's Eevee (her Espeon and Umbreon mated before the trip and produced an Eevee a couple of days after we arrived) wandered onto the battlefield and Charizard incinerated it. It was dead.

I snapped. I shouted out an angry command and Nidoking's tail whipped forward.

* * *

**Melissa**

Luckily for us, someone came in and told Alpha Division to "break it up" and leave us alone.

I still needed to know the reason I had been selected; I'd glimpsed it, but there hadn't been time to read it before we got interupted. Nonetheless, one sentence stuck in my mind - _Melissa is the top athlete for the Celadon City area._

I thought about this and, the more I did so, the more it made sense. Clearly, if Marle's vision of a world ravaged by plague was going to come true, they would want to insure that anyone who was exceptional in any way survived. And something which happened just a few weeks after the computer incident seemed to confirm those suspicions.

A woman who worked for Project Alpha came into the hut. "Melissa Edwards?" she asked.

Reluctantly, I abandoned the game of cards I was playing with Monica and moved towards the door. "What is it?" I asked, puzzled as to why a member of staff would come into our quarters.

"You're wanted in Head Office," the woman explained.

I thought I was in trouble over the computer fiasco, but it turned out that wasn't the case. Sidney Dole was sitting at his desk, looking solemn. "Hello, Melissa," he said, staring into my face. "I think I'd better tell you why I called you in here."

"Why?" I demanded, still suspicious of his motives.

"As I understand it, one of your hut-mates is a Timeseer," Dole explained. "And it seems she's been having visions of a plague coming to the world. Well, I think I'd better inform you that what she saw was what we of Project Alpha have known for years - rogue states planning to use biological weapons to destroy our civilisation. And, only a few days ago, a deadly virus was released over Kanto . . ."

I gasped, too shocked to speak, and forced myself to listen as Dole continued.

"We knew there was little time so we selected people with special abilities that would help them survive in a changed world. Then, we evacuated them to a place of safety, far away from the nearest populated area where there was less chance of them becoming infected. You and the other Project members are those people . . ."

I looked at him in surprise. "But why?" I demanded, rising in my seat. "Why did you lie to us? You said we'd only be here for a year!"

"As to that," Dole said, "I regret having to lie, but it seemed the only right thing to do under the circumstances. You see, if we'd let on that there was going to be a plague, we would have been swamped by people trying to join the Project and we just don't have the space at present."

I returned to my hut in a state of shock and took out the photo of my and my mum I'd brought from home. I was ten in that picture and Pidgeotto (I didn't have Sunflora then) was still a Pidgey. I stroked the frame gently, scarcely able to believe that it was the last link I had to my mum.

"Why?" I said out loud. Even now, I still don't know the answer.

Most of the people on Project Alpha still didn't know about the plague and thought they would be going home in a few months' time.

But I knew different. I knew we had all been selected because we had special skills that needed to be preserved. I also knew that we had to learn to co-operate if we were to stand any chance of surviving.

I sat on my bed, stroking Pidgeotto with one hand and turning the pages in a book I'd brought from home with the other. But I couldn't seem to concentrate; every time I tried to get my mind off the home I would never see again, something would remind me of it.

Like that book, for instance. It was called _Brother In The Land_ and it was about two boys caught up in a nuclear war. I guess it reminded me of my own situation too much, because I eventually gave up on it and went to the window.

Staring out at the compound, I wondered what would become of us now that the plague Marle had warned me about had come. Would we have to rebuild society? And what would the society we built be like?

It was kind of like being on one of those "reality" gameshows, only this wasn't a game. This was for real.

* * *

**Ben**

I was in the doghouse. My earlier doubts about running away had only served to give the others time to finish whatever it was they had been doing with the military guys - and they weren't in the best of moods when they got back. Stan and Leon both agreed that they didn't have time to put up with my childish behaviour, so (after relieving me of the food I'd been planning to swipe) they locked me in the hut and went out to have a look round.

They probably hadn't told the others about locking me away, but, if they had, they would probably have agreed. Stan kept treating me like a mental patient and Leon . . . Well, Leon was just himself. He didn't want to lock me up, but, as he said, "it had to be done". I had achieved nothing - except managing to completely screw up the relationship between us. I doubted life could get any worse.

A couple of days later, Leon and Stan were talking and, as usual, I had been banished to the farthest corner of the hut where I couldn't hear what was going on. I idly rolled my Poke Balls on the floor while watching the animated discussion.

At one point, Leon gestured towards me while talking. Stan rolled his eyes and shrugged - then, they got up and looked at me.

"Well? Come on then, Mr Mentally Unsound!" Stan said in exasperation

I got up. "Where are we going?" I asked.

Stan glared at the ceiling and sighed. "Geez! He can't even eavesdrop properly!" was what I thought I heard him say under his breath.

"Meeting with the rest of the Division," Leon told me. "Bring your Pokemon." He turned and walked out the door.

I looked blankly at Stan and he grinned at me. "Let's just say . . . it might get ugly," he said.

* * *

**Melissa**

Soon, everyone knew that Ben and Leon were planning to have a Pokemon battle. Even though I wasn't a Timeseer like Marle, I had serious misgivings - surely no good could come out of this.

When I next saw Ben and Leon, I tried to talk them into calling the whole thing off. But Leon just laughed at me and said he had to "defend his honour".

I stalked off in disgust. "Boys!" I muttered under my breath as I headed back to the hut I shared with Marle and Monica. Marle was out - she was one of a group of people working in the fields where we were planting a crop - but Monica was sitting on her bed, reading a magazine she had brought from home. We had been allowed to bring magazines but not newspapers.

Monica looked up when she saw me. "Hi," she said, before turning back to the article she had just been reading. There was something different about her and, looking closely, I saw what it was. Round her neck, she wore a gold pendant shaped like a Seadra with tiny opals for eyes.

"That's pretty," I said. "Where did you get it?"

"My pendant?" she replied. "My gran left it to me in her will - her first Pokemon was a Seadra and that's why she had that made."

"You've never talked much about your family," I went on.

Monica looked at me sadly. "Mainly because they never wanted much to do with me," she explained. "You see, I was the fourth daughter my parents had and they were hoping for a son. So, although they tolerated me when I was little, we didn't . . . get along. As soon as I was old enough, I ran away from home. I said I was going on a Pokemon journey - well, I was in a way - but I never went back home again . . ."

I was stunned - it was understandable that Marle's parents had been afraid of their daughter's gifts, but the way Monica's parents pushed her aside just because she wasn't the son they had hoped for was beyond belief. I decided it would be safer to change the subject.

"Listen," I said urgently. "Two of the boys are gonna have a battle and we must stop them!"

* * *

**Ben**

Stan practically dragged me outside and pushed me towards Leon. "Let's see you handle this!" he snarled in my ear.

It's amazing how word gets around about little things like this and we were soon standing in the centre of a large crowd of onlookers. The other Divisions had turned out in force to shout words of encouragement or abuse to us.

Since I didn't look like I was going to make a move any time soon, Leon took the lead and sent out a Scizor. How in the world would I beat that with the Pokemon I had? As I glanced nervously round at the increasingly impatient crowd, I noticed some of the suits and military guys had joined them and were watching the two of us expectantly.

"Ben, I'm waiting!" Leon called from the other side of the makeshift ring. I had no choice. I had to send something out to face his lethal Bug.

I decided to let fate decide as I pulled one of my Poke Balls at random. "Um . . . go, whoever!" I called. It was Larvitar and I suddenly felt very queasy indeed.

* * *

**Monica**

I sighed. Why did I even trust her? I was becoming soft - or rather this whole Project Alpha thing was affecting my head. I wished I could somehow run away, even if I died trying.

I stared at the six Poke Balls on my belt. I was only supposed to bring two Pokemon, but, as I said before, I didn't follow anyone's rules. They let me bring all my Pokemon because it was the only way to get me here - I guess.

Hurry up!" yelled Melissa. I nodded and followed her.

Both combatants glared at each other and you could feel something uncomfortable and annoying - kind of like hatred in the air. "He doesn't stand a chance," I whispered as Ben's Larvitar walked towards Leon's Scizor. "Is he crazy? He's going to kill the poor little thing!"

I ran towards Leon while Melissa ran to Ben, both of us determined to stop the battle. "What are you doing!" I shouted. "Stop it!"

Leon just grinned. "Let the battle begin!" he ordered.

"Didn't you hear me! Stop it - damn it!"

"Scizor, you know what to do!" Leon said as if I wasn't there. I had to stop him. Without even thinking, I punched him in the middle.

"Why did you do that!" yelled Leon, holding his stomach in pain.

"Don't you know you might kill that Larvitar!"

"So what?" Leon said, turning his gaze to the battle. "Attack, Scizor!"

"Enough!" I yelled as I tried to punch him again. But, this time, Leon stopped me.

"I warn you - don't mess with me," he said as he let go of my hand.

I rubbed my hand and thought of something for a moment. I gazed at that poor Larvitar who was getting beaten up by Leon's Scizor. No matter how annoying Ben might be, his Larvitar didn't deserve to suffer like this.

"Battle me, Leon!" I said with a huge grin on my face.

"What!"

Battle me, damn it!" I said as I glared at him. "Battle me!"

* * *

**Melissa**

Monica and Leon glared at each other angrily, neither of them willing to back down. "Admit it," Monica gloated. "You're afraid to battle me because you know you'll lose. You read my file, remember?"

"I'm not afraid, Monica," Leon said. "I just . . . can't bring myself to battle a girl."

"What - did - you - say?"

Leon shrugged. "I said I can't bring myself to battle a girl," he repeated. That was a big mistake.

Before she could stop herself, Monica swung at him with her fist and knocked him sprawling. "That's for being a sexist jerk!" she said, glaring at Leon as he lay prone on the ground.

"Please, hear me out," Leon begged. "I can't fight a girl because . . ."

But it turned out that we would never know why Leon couldn't bring himself to battle female opponents because, at that moment, there was an announcement over the speakers that had been set up at various places. "Alpha Members to the Assembly Area! Repeat! Alpha Members to the Assembly Area!"

We all looked at each other in surprise, wondering what this could be about. I had a pretty good idea, as did Marle, but everyone else was completely in the dark.

"Hey! What's going on?" asked Monica.

"Probably just testing the speakers," suggested Stan. But the announcer's next words soon told us otherwise.

"This is not a test! All Project Members to the Assembly Area immediately!"

The six of us who made up Gamma Division arrived to find all the people chosen for Project Alpha assembled in front of our huts with Sidney Dole and his staff standing on the platform in front of us. "What's going on?" whispered a girl named Katie Fletcher who had been placed in Epsilon Division.

"I don't know any more than you do," I replied.

Dole stepped up to his mike and began to address the crowd. "Members of Project Alpha," he said, "I have called you all together for a serious reason. Several weeks ago, each of you received a letter telling you to prepare to take part in a year-long project . . ."

"We KNOW all that!" groaned Katie Fletcher, who had a Pikachu perched on her shoulder.

Dole ignored the interuption and continued. "I have to inform you now that that was simply a cover story. The REAL reason each of you was selected was because you possess special talents, talents that would prove useful for rebuilding civilisation in the event of disaster. I have to tell you now that, even as I speak, a plague is spreading in the outside world. We of Project Alpha knew of this eventuality and that is why we brought you here, to protect you from infection."

There was mush shocked muttering at this and it took Dole several minutes before he could make himself heard again. "To ensure that no-one brings the plague into the Location, certain precautions will be taken. We predict that it could take up to three years for the worst of the plague to pass. Until then, you must all stay within the Location and not attempt to leave for any reason . . ."

I returned to the hut in a daze. Even though I'd known about the plague, I'd tried to push it to the back of my mind. But now it was official - our civilisation had fallen.


	4. Chapter Four

﻿ 

**

Chapter Four

**

**Melissa**

We lost count of the days after a while. You might think that's impossible, but it's easy once there's no work to go to, appointments to keep or favourite tv programmes to watch. Every day seemed to merge with the last.

It was hard being confined the way we were, but it had to be done to protect us from the plague. I felt kind of sorry for my Pidgeotto, who could only be let out of her Poke Ball under supervision in case she flew off and brought the plague back with her.

One afternoon, I was sitting in the hut with Sunflora on the floor next to me. I was troubled and she seemed to sense this because she kept quiet as I remembered the home I'd left behind and the people I'd never see again.

Then, my eyes fell on one of the magazines Monica had been reading a few days earlier. Hoping she wouldn't mind if I just sneaked a look, I opened it and began to read, looking at a remnant of a lost world.

Then, I saw a quiz, a fun test of the reader's general knowledge. Monica hadn't ticked any of the answers and I wondered if she and I would be able to challenge any of the others.

The answer came when the door opened and Leon walked in. "Leon, what are you doing here?" I asked. "You know you're not allowed in female quarters . . ."

"Just thought you needed some company, that's all."

"OK," I said, gesturing him to sit down on the bed. Then, I had an idea - looking through the questions, I chose one I thought he should know the answer to.

Hey, Leon - bet you don't know who the current Ecruteak Gym Leader is," I challenged. "Is it - a, Whitney . . . b, Morty . . . or c, Falkner?"

Leon glared at me. "Why d'you ask?" he demanded angrily. "There are no Gym Leaders now - the world as we knew it has gone forever! And all our families . . ."

He never finished his sentence. Before I could stop myself, I punched him hard on the jaw. "Thanks for reminding me," I said grimly.

Right now, I hated Leon more than anything. WHY did he have to go and remind me like that? The second he turned and left my hut, I picked up the photo of my mum and sat looking at it.

"Mum," I sighed under my breath, "if only you'd known what was coming . . ."

But I knew that, however much I wished for things to be different, nothing would change. I was stuck out here in the sticks with a bunch of people who'd been taken away from everything they'd known before, just because they had talents that needed to be preserved.

* * *

**Marle**

"Espeon - dodge! Umbreon, you'll have to be faster than that!"

Espeon quickly jumped away from Umbreon's Bite Attack and kicked him with her hind paw as she escaped. Not exactly an official Pokemon move, but hey - whatever works . . .

I was out training my Pokemon. There was nothing else to do and you never knew when you might need strong Pokemon.

* * *

**Ben**

Life went on as normal for the members of Project Alpha for the next few - what was it? Weeks or months? I couldn't be bothered to try and work it out any more.

Except, it didn't carry on as normal for most of us. The world as we had known it had gone.

* * *

**Melissa**

Looking back now, I can hardly remember my life before Project Alpha - I guess I repressed everything so I wouldn't dwell on the past too much and could get on with my life.

There are a few things I still recall vividly - the day I found the Pidgey that would become my Pidgeotto was one of them. I was nine years old when I came across a Pidgey hobbling around the garden back home (my OLD home) in Celadon City. On close inspection, I realised she had broken a wing - probably in a battle with some other bird-Pokemon - and I resolved to catch her and take her to the Pokemon Centre so Nurse Joy could make her well.

I managed to tempt Pidgey with a packet of bird seed and she allowed me to pick her up and take her to the Pokemon Centre. We only lived round the corner from it, so it didn't take me long to get there - then, when Nurse Joy had taken Pidgey to the treatment room, I began the longest wait of my life.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Nurse Joy came out and smiled at me. "Your Pidgey's going to be just fine," she said. She thought it was my Pidgey, but I was happy to play along and so was Pidgey. She and I became firm friends and fought many battles together. Then, three years after I found her, she evolved into Pidgeotto and I got Sunflora not long after.

I reflected on this as I worked with the others in the fields where we were planting crops. We would have to be self-sufficient if we were to stand any chance of surviving the isolation the plague had imposed on us, but it was hard work. And to think I'd recently been an ordinary teenaged girl whose main priorities were clothes and boyfriends.

At my side, Marle was humming snatches of pop songs, but I had never been able to bring myself to listen. How could I when there were no pop songs now - in fact, no music at all? But what really grabbed my attention was the fact that, right in the middle of one of my favourite songs, she collapsed with her head in her hands.

"Marle!" I yelled, concerned by my friend's sudden collapse and aware that, in a Timeseer, it could only mean one thing. "Marle, what is it?"

She looked up at me, sobbing. "Melissa, I sense . . . I sense danger!" she told me. "Something's gonna happen that'll cause divisions among us . . ."

I decided I'd better take Marle back to the hut so she could rest up. I helped her to her feet because she was still feeling rather dizzy and we set off in the direction of our private quarters.

Along the way, we came across a girl from Delta Division; I didn't know her name, but she had a pet Vulpix so we called her Vulpix Girl. "What's going on?" she asked, wondering why me and Marle had left the field early.

"Nothing," I said shortly. I couldn't be bothered to go into details right now. "She wasn't feeling well, so I thought I'd better get her inside, that's all."

Inside our hut, I sat Marle down and looked her straight in the eye. "I think you'd better tell me what that was about," I told her.

She paused for a moment. "Well . . ." she began.

* * *

**Marle**

"I can't do this . . . I can't do this . . . I CANNOT do this!" I thought over and over, rocking back and forth on the mattress and clutching my knees to my chest.

Melissa sat silently, watching me expectantly. I knew she was dying of curiousity but she would give me as long as I needed to collect myself.

"Melissa, you know when I kinda freaked out on you when you asked me about my parents?" I said at last.

She nodded.

"I didn't tell you because I'm kind of . . . embarassed about my parentage - my father anyway. Well, you'll soon know who my father is . . ."

Melissa looked shocked for a moment. "You mean you know he's still alive?" she asked me. "How could he have survived the plague? Have we seen him before?"

"STOP!" I interupted her, tears streaming down my face. "I just found out, OK? No, we haven't seen him and I don't want to!"

Melissa realised that she had pushed too hard and seemed about to drop the matter. She placed her arm around my shoulder. "Can you at least tell me his name so I'll know him whe I do see him?" she asked.

I nodded but was silent for a few more minutes as I faed my internal struggle. I wanted to tell her, but I wondered how the others would think of me afterward.

Then I realised I already knew how they would feel - I was a Timeseer. They would act like it didn't matter, but eventually they would all drift away, afraid to be seen near me. It didn't matter, though - they'd find out one way or another. My lips struggled to form his name, a name so despicable that it left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Giovanni."

* * *

**Kohaku**

I sat outside the hut, listening to the conversation those girls were having. Vulpix nudged against me as I looked down and smiled a fake smile to reassure him.

I heard what that girl, Marle, said, but I didn't quite believe it. Had my ears deceived me or was this girl's father the leader of the most notorious criminal gang in the world? But I couldn't blame her - I could tell by her sorrow that she wasn't at fault. Does a child choose their parents? For that matter, do the parents ever choose the children they will have?

I wanted to comfort this girl like a friend would and tell her everything was all right. But I felt it would be out of place, so I just closed my eyes and stayed where I was.

* * *

**Melissa**

I looked at Marle in disbelief. "You mean THE Giovanni!" I asked in amazement. "The head of Team Rocket!"

She nodded reluctantly. "He walked out on my mum when I was two," she told me. "Then she got married again to a John Smith, so I guess they changed my last name as well. But I never thought of myself as Marle Smith, even though I hated what I heard of Giovanni . . ."

She trailed off at this point and I chose not to press. Instead, I sat by her, waiting until she got up the courage to continue.

"Guess, if they want to call me Marle Smith, I'd better go along with it," she said at last with a wry grin on her face. "After all, if I keep acting so secretive about my last name, people might start to talk - and I don't want that. It's hard enough being born a Timeseer . . ."

Me and Marle made a solemn oath not to let anyone else know what she had just told me. I felt she had enough worries already without anyone adding to them.

Two - or it might have been three - days later, we were assigned the most challenging task yet - building a Great Hall for the people at the Location to hold gatherings even when it was pouring with rain outside. It was a prefab, so all we had to do was slide the sections into place while Pidgeotto, Monica's Charizard and all the other Flying Pokemon in the place took care of the roofing. As I was plastering one of the walls, I heard a faint cough behind me.

I turned to see Vulpix Girl standing behind me, looking as if she wanted to say something. "Hi," I said, hoping to break the ice. "You're that girl with the Vulpix, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah," she admitted. "I'm Kohaku, by the way . . ."

We had a conversation and I agreed she could join the little gang my friends and I had formed. They had a few misgivings at first ("She's from Delta Division," Stan said in a tone which clearly said I should stick to my own Division.) but I managed to talk them round.

"Listen," I said. "It doesn't matter which Division someone's in. What matters is that we're supposed to be preserving the human race - and we can only do that if we co-operate."

And so Kohaku became the newest member of our little clique - and the first from outside Gamma Division.

* * *

**Drake**

I continued to stare up at the ceiling for the fifth hour running. I was bored, but even sitting up seemed unappealing for some reason.

"Time is on my side . . ." Grey crooned for the twelfth time. Grey was one of my cabin-mates and he was sporty and humorous - he was also unbelievably annoying. "Say, do you think you could get up?" he asked me. "Some exercise might do you good."

"I've had all the exercise I need thanks," I grumbled. For the last twelve days, we had been trying to fix the unreliable lavatory in our hut, but it broke down so often that we eventually decided to strip it down and build it from scratch. Right now, we were having our first respite for days and not even Grey's incessent singing could interupt my rest.

Grey had a point though. "Well, I guess I do feel like a stroll through the compound - you coming?"

"Nope - I was recommending that YOU exercise," Grey told me. "I'm just gonna flip through your sketchbook . . ."

"Hey!"

My sketches weren't terrible, but they definitely weren't something I liked to boast about either. It began to rain, but that had never been a deterent before. "See ya in an hour, Grey!" I called as I set out to check up on the other Divisions.

An hour was forty-five minutes too long. I was somewhere around the huts assigned to Theta and Gamma Division when the sky really opened up. "Aw, Hell!" I muttered as the ground became increasingly slippery and muddy.

* * *

**Ben**

"I'm not cut out for manual labour," I moaned as I helped Leon with heaving a plank of wood out to the construction site.

"Are you still here?" he demanded. "I could've sworn you'd left because you don't seem to be actually helping in any way."

"Where's Stan these days?" I asked, trying a change of tactic.

"He's probably doing what you're not - the W word. How the hell should I know! I'm not his keeper or anything."

"It's just . . . he's not been around much lately and I thought you might know why, seeing that you're his friend and all."

Leon threw the wood down and it split as it crashed to the ground. "Will you PLEASE shut up! You don't get it, do you? We are not here to make friends, we are here to rebuild the fucking planet! And somehow, I don't think we need guys like you along for the ride - so just quit while you're ahead, OK? It's obvious you're the weak element - can't fight, can't do a day's labour, can't go ten minutes without pissing someone off!"

"Now," he went on, "unless you want to prove me wrong in another match with Scizor, just go and lie down somewhere and DIE ALREADY!"

With that, Leon picked the wood up again - he was quite capable of carrying it without my help - and carried on walking. However, my brain always seemed to have a death wish and that's probably why I challenged him to a rematch. He kept on walking.

"Did you hear me, Leon?" I demanded.

"Yes, of course I did, but I don't want to waste my time on an idiot like you. Now, go and do something you're good at - like sitting down and being useless!"

* * *

**Melissa**

We were slowly settling into a routine, a sure sign that our new way of life was becoming second nature. Every morning, a bell would ring and we would get dressed and file out of our huts for morning roll call. Then, once everyone had been accounted for, we would go to the mess hall for breakfast.

On one occasion, I was just taking my tray to Gamma Table (each Division had a table reserved for its members) when a boy from one of the other Divisions hailed me. "Hey! You're one of those kids who hacked the computers, aren't you?" he told me.

I stopped in my tracks. I knew his name was Drake Andrews, but I didn't know much else about him aside from the fact he had a Pikachu and an Arcanine. "Yeah," I admitted reluctantly. "Anyway, who told you?"

He shrugged nonchallently. "Word gets around," he said. "Anyway, it was awfully brave of you guys to try something like that . . ."

"Maybe - but we didn't find out all the things we would have liked to know. The computer crashed on us and someone came in and caught us. Alpha Division were going to make us battle them - until Dole stepped in at the last minute."

"Sounds like you could've done with someone like me," Drake told me. "I'm a natural survivor and . . ."

At that moment, I felt someone ram a tray into my back. "Oi!" said Monica's irritated voice. "Some of us want to get to our tables!"

I muttered a hasty apology and went to join the rest of Gamma Division - passing Delta Table, I gave Kohaku a quick wink and she waved back. "So, who was that?" Monica asked as we sat down opposite each other.

"Drake Andrews," I replied. "But I didn't get his Division."

There were now eight people in our little gang, the six of us from Gamma Division plus Kohaku of Delta Division and Drake. I eventually found out that he had been assigned to Beta Division.

I still wondered about the world I'd left behind and I knew the others did too. One day, I was walking with Kohaku when I heard her heave a big sigh and she reached up to brush at her eyes with her hand.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said. "I was just thinking - that's all."

"Thinking? About what?" I echoed.

She sighed - I'd only known her for a few weeks, but I could tell she must be thinking about home. I knew the feeling; that crushing sense of homesickness came back to haunt all of us from time to time. The slightest thing could set us thinking about a world that was now gone and would never be seen again within our lifetimes.

"About my parents and my . . . boyfriend," Kohaku said at last. "We'd been going out together for just over a year when I got called up. I think saying goodbye to him was the hardest thing I've ever had to do . . ."

She broke down at this point and I patted her reassuringly. "I know," I said. "Everyone here had to say goodbye to someone they loved . . ."

Just then, Marle came running up to us. "Melissa! Kohaku!" she called. "Meeting in half-an-hour - didn't you hear the tannoy?"

We hurried to where everyone was assembled and Sidney Dole was in his usual position in front of us. He was speaking through a microphone.

"Since some of you have already found out about your talents," he said, casting his eyes round the members of Gamma Division, "I thought it only fair that the rest of you should know why you're here . . ." He started reading from a list of names like the one he'd used when we got off the plane. "Kohaku, you were chosen because of your ability to speak any Pokemon's language . . . Drake Andrews, you have exceptional survival skills . . ." Then, he went through everyone's special talent in turn.

I thought about what he'd said about Kohaku. It was true - one time, she'd been battling her Vulpix against Katie Fletcher's Pikachu and, instead of giving commands in English, she kept saying "Vulpix vulpix!" and her Vulpix understood.

As we dispersed after the meeting, I gazed at the sunset and thought about how peaceful it looked. I could hardly believe that, outside the safety of the Location, people were dying of the plague.


	5. Chapter Five

﻿ 

**

Chapter Five

**

**Melissa**

Our lives had settled into a routine and it seemed nothing could happen to us out here in the middle of nowhere. Then, one night, I was woken by an ear-splitting scream. I fumbled for my light switch and flicked it on to see Marle sitting up in bed, her face covered in sweat.

"Marle, what is it?" I asked. Something told me this had to be another of her visions.

"Melissa," she said between sobs. "Melissa, we've got to get out of here - that Tyler Banks from Alpha Division, he's up to something and I know it's gonna be bad . . ."

I hesitated, wondering how on Earth we were going to leave. It would take us days to get to the nearest town - and we didn't even know which direction it lay in or what we would find when we got there . . .

* * *

**Ben**

"So, this is the strategy we'll use - OK?" I told my Larvitar as I sat on the end of my bed, trying not to think about what could happen if anything went wrong. "Steel Types can't deal with Ground Attacks, right? Well, we'll lead off with Sandstorm and hopefully that'll keep Scizor on the floor so we'll at least have a fighting chance. And then . . ."

"What ya doing, Ben?" Stan asked as he came into the room suddenly.

I hastily returned Larvitar to its Ball and looked at him. "Uh, nothing much . . ." I started.

Stan sat down on the bed opposite me and grinned. "Leon told me you want him to smash your Larvitar up again," he said in a tone of voice I hadn't heard from him before. He was a lot less aggressive than usual and seemed almost happy about something. He looked round the room for a moment and grinned at me.

"We really should redecorate," he told me. "I don't like the walls . . . Well, good luck with your battle, kiddo!"

"Good luck?" I thought. "Since when did Stan ever say that to anyone?" I was about to ask him what had got him in such a buzzing mood when I realised he'd gone. Something was definitely not right with him - or maybe it was just Stan trying to play mind games with me to psych me out before I faced Leon.

Either way, I didn't dwell on the subject for long. As soon as he was gone, I released Larvitar again. "So - where were we . . .?"

* * *

**Drake**

" "Lambda Division sends its thanks" ?" I muttered. "Right! I bet they'll also be sending another request to fix their plumbing in a couple of days!"

Either someone had serious bowel problems or someone was sabotaging the toilet for no apparent reason. Beta Division's huts were a long way away and it would take me a while to get back to that part of the compound.

I was the only one in the cabin when the Lambda boys showed up again with their complaints. On the way over there, I didn't feel sleepy at all even though it was quite late at night.

I looked up at the stars, twinkling as always and blissfully oblivious to the turmoil on our planet. then, the tranquility of the night shattered by a nearby scream coming from the cabin that housed the female members of Gamma Division. I sprinted that way to investigate.

* * *

**Melissa**

That night, we held a meeting, we being the six members of Gamma Division plus Drake and Kohaku. We were all alarmed to hear that Tyler Banks might be planning some kind of sabotage and we needed to think of some way to stop him.

"Tell the staff," suggested Kohaku, who sat stroking her Vulpix as she spoke.

"Let's slip him some poison," added Stan. He glowered, leaving his opinion of Tyler in no doubt - he hated the jerk and would dearly love to bring about his downfall.

But I shook my head. "No," I told the others. "That won't work - if you were paying attention when Dole was telling the others about their talents, you'll know Tyler's here because he can detect poisons. So he'd know if we tried anything like that . . ."

In the end, we decided to stay at the Location - there wasn't anywhere else we could do - but to keep a careful eye on Tyler in case he tried anything. If he did, we were going to steal the bus that brought us here and use it to run away, heading to the hills to start our own breakaway community.

Then, someone sabotaged the water supply to our huts. I found out what they had done when Monica stepped out of the shower (there was a shower in each hut) with a towel wrapped round her middle and an angry look on her face.

"What's going on here!" she demanded. "The water keeps switching from hot to cold . . ."

Her guess was as good as mine, but, when I checked the water thermostat, I found that someone had over-ridden the settings we had on it. And only one person could think of pulling a trick like that.

"Tyler," I said darkly. Then I found a note shoved under the door.

**Dear Gamma Division  
I will rule the Location. If you want your water supply back, you will do as I say. I want all you girls pregnant ASAP . . .**

I didn't bother to read the rest of the note - the very idea of being forced into being a child-bearing machine sickened me. I wasn't ready for that kind of thing and nor were Monica and Marle. We were just three teenaged girls thrown together in order to preserve the human race.

That was when my friends and I decided to form the Splinter Group. Under cover of darkness, we and our Pokemon would be out of here and there would be no-one to tell us what to do in the outside world. The rule of law must have collapsed long ago, but life in the Location would be unbearable with Tyler Banks in charge.

* * *

**Kohaku**

I could not believe the demands of this Tyler freak. I had always hated the name Tyler - it seemed the very name quivered with the stench of insanity.

I talked to three Pidgeys about spying on Tyler, but, when only two returned and told me of the torture Tyler had put their friend through before killing him, I decided not to jeopardise the lives of any more Pokemon.

I couldn't sleep at night - the thought of what he planned to do frightened me. I wanted to do something, but I felt so useless.

* * *

**Stan**

Ben was asking Kohaku if having the surname Tyler made him insane when I walked into the hut, followed by (well, dragging) a very angry Leon. He was frothing at the mouth.

"What's the matter?" asked Kohaku.

"Um . . . nothing," I replied. "Just his: "What happens when I drop the match on the blue touch paper next to the dynamite? Oh shit! That's what!" version of mental instability."

"Oh - that's all?" replied a very nervous Kohaku.

Drake stared at the wall in a worried sort of way - understanding Leon took a great deal of time and effort. Melissa was biting her nails to the cuticle, causing Drake to sigh audibly, while Kohaku kept looking from the window to Drake and Monica tried to wake Leon who had collapsed moments after Ben dragged him in.

Ben was having a heated debate with a soft toy named Mr Squiffles and Marle was smiling at me. I was hitting my head on the window and laughing derisively at our twisted version of normality.

* * *

**Ben**

The whole thing was getting to me. By all accounts, I should have been dead - Leon was supposed to have beaten me to a bloody pulp twice, but I could still feel my fingers. The whole world had fallen to bits around us and yet the sun still rose in the morning and everyone acted happy in their own little way.

Mr Squiffles listened though - he always listened to me and made me feel special. I didn't know who he belonged to, but, as far as I was concerned, he was his own toy and that was the end of it.

When Mr Squiffles asked me just what the heck I was doing, I hit him hard. Then, I realised it wasn't my poor stuffed colleague but Melissa who had asked. I almost hit her too, but some tiny sliver of sanity stopped my hand just in time.

"Somebody wants to keep me alive as a punishment," I moaned as I stared at the sad motionless form of Mr Squiffles.

**Kohaku**

I slowly slipped away from Leon and headed toward the other side of the room, where I found myself standing next to Ben.

"Hi," I said. He looked up at me, before looking around.

"Do you know you're talking to me?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," I replied. "Are you . . . all right?" I felt a strong urge to run away very fast and very far.

"Of course - you're actually talking to me and not looking at me like I'm crazy or useless," he said.

"Why would I do that?" I asked him in a nicer voice.

"Because I'm useless," he replied.

* * *

**Drake**

I thought about the proposition again - things were definitely going to get much worse if Tyler took charge, but would we be any better off out there with no idea where we were? I had suggested finding a way to catch the water and bathe in it later, but Tyler would just find another - more unpleasent - way to get what he wanted. So it might be better to head out after all . . .

I mentally compiled a list of everything we might need for an expedition out of here. We could probably survive just running away without any sort of supplies, but it wouldn't be pleasent.

"Hell, it won't be pleasent anyway," I mused. "Say, Stan - you seen Melissa?"

Stan ceased his assault on the window and looked up. "Er . . . I think she's outside. Why?" he replied.

I was about to mention an escape plan when Blaze - my Arcanine - began to growl and sniff the air. "Blaze, what is it?" I asked, following his gaze out the window just in time to see something pop out of sight.

"You been having any of those bad visions lately?" Stan asked Marle.

"No - why?" Marle replied.

"Oh nothing. It's just that someone's lurking outside in a suspicious manner. . ."

* * *

**Ben**

"You're not useless," Kohaku tried to reason with me.

"Yes, I am," I stated flatly. "Anyway, you're not even part of our team, so how would you know?" She stared at me critically, trying to think of a counter to my argument. Luckily, she found one.

"Well, you wouldn't be here if you were "useless"," she reminded me. "We all have talents, remember?"

Slowly, it dawned on me that she wasn't going to yell at me or call me useless like the others did. This in turn led to my sudden recollection of everything that had gone on since I quit caring all those months ago. The sudden influx of information in my head forced my brain back into its normal routine - I stared at the stuffed toy I had been talking to earlier and realised I was sane again.

"So you can really be use . . ." Kohaku was saying.

I leapt up and stopped her from saying it. "Don't say the U word - it does terrible things to me"

"You mean "useless"?" was probably the next thing she said. But I had my hand over her mouth so it came out more like "Mm mmm mm-mm?". I nodded and let her breathe again.

"Are you totally insane!" She looked at me with a worried expression.

"I was - but not any more," I said helpfully. "And you helped me get my mind back!"

"I did? How? All I did was . . ."

I hugged her happily because it felt good to have my sanity again.

"Hey, you . . . person! Leggo!" Kohaku pulled free and stepped back slightly. "You can be a very scary person . . ."

I would have apologised for my behaviour, had Drake not interupted us. Well, at least my days of conversing with Mr Squiffles were over - as long as no-one called me "useless" and I vowed never to give them a reason to use that word about me again.

* * *

**Kohaku**

I blinked at the once depressed but now happy guy - he reminded me of someone, but I didn't know who. I was glad I'd made him feel better, though I was still unsure how I did it.

When Drake said someone was lurking outside, I left my thoughts and wandered toward a crack in the wall. I made a soft trilling noise and was rewarded with the sound of a Diglett coming from the soil.

"Diglett dig diglett diiiggg diglett dig," I whispered. Roughly translated, this meant, "Look for a suspicious person lurking around and report back."

Hopefully, the Diglett would return quickly and not be suspected. . .

* * *

**Melissa**

While we were waiting for the Diglett to come back with news, we started making our getaway plans.

"Does anyone here know how to drive?" I asked.

"I used to go joyriding a lot back home," replied Stan. "Does that count?"

We had to agree that it was better than nothing so we sneaked into the place where they'd parked the bus and climbed in. Stan sat in the driver's seat and began trying to hotwire the engine, a process which seemed to take a very long time. "Hurry up!" pleaded Marle. "I sense . . . danger! Tyler's on his way over here - he could catch us any moment!"

"I'm hurrying!" Stan retorted. "Engines don't hotwire instantly you know!"

Just then, the Diglett Kohaku had sent popped up directly outside the bus. Kohaku spoke to it for a few seconds, before turning to the rest of us. "OK," she said. "We should have a head start if we start right away . . ."

"OK," Stan said as he finished what he was doing and pressed the ignition switch. We all cheered as the engine roared into life and the bus started to move. I looked down at Pidgeotto and Sunflora's Poke Balls and wondered for the umpteenth time just where all this was going to lead us.

We were goodness only knew how many miles from the nearest city and there was no way of knowing what we would find when we got there, although we all secretly hoped to find other survivors. But what we did know was that the world we had grown up in was gone - society was in a vacuum between the end of one civilisation and the beginning of the next.

I thought about that note I'd found, still barely able to believe anyone could be so sexist as to declare all females of child-bearing age must have kids whether they wanted them or not. I wanted children one day - I understood the need to repopulate - but I just wasn't ready at the moment.

I looked out the window as Stan drove us away from the Location, recalling the day we arrived there for what we thought would be a year-long social research project. I could hardly believe just how much things had changed since that day. Nothing would ever be the same again, at least not within our lifetimes - it would probably take several decades for society to return to pre-plague standards, if it ever did.

* * *

**Stan**

As the bus kicked into action I turned to the rest of the group, cursed diesel engines and drove off up the hill in the foreboding darkness. We slipped past almost all the huts before coming to the edge of the fenced-in estate. Then, a cry came up from Drake's hut.

Moments later, an evidently angry and sleep-deprived person grabbed the person doing the shouting by the scruff of the neck and threw him through the door and into the side of our vehicle.

"What the . . .?" someone said.

I spoke up. "Quick - get him in before he spreads the word!"

Drake jumped out and pulled in the injured boy. "Grey?" he said when he saw who it was.

"Um, hi," Grey said. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Well . . ."

I clamped my hand over Drake's mouth. "We'll explain later," I whispered. "But I think we can trust him."

If only we'd known how wrong we would be. Soon, we'd find out the truth about Grey Kindler - his loyalties were as shady as his name.

* * *

**Drake**

As the bus rumbled through the outskirts of the camp, I began to wonder why we had decided to use it. It was big, chunky and easy to spot. I had stolen a camouflage net to conceal the bus, but it would be no good if the tracks left behind led them right to us. I had little doubt they'd come after us, so I had Megavolt (my Pikachu) do as much sabotage as he could before we left.

I mentally noted that the bus would make an excellent diversion if we were ever found. But, one way or another, we would have to dump it eventually. We had enough supplies and fuel to last a week, but, after that, we were on our own.

I checked the gear I had packed and was pleased to find that, in addition to the food and water I had packed, most other survival essentials were already on the bus.

"Security!" Stan growled, distracting me from thoughts of supplies. Ahead were three armed guards.

"Who wants to take care of the Three Stooges?" I asked.


	6. Chapter Six

﻿ 

**

Chapter Six

**

**Marle**

"It would be my pleasure," I growled, leaping from the bus and tossing my Poke Balls before I landed.

Umbreon darted forward to distract the the men as Espeon used her Psychic abilities to tear their suits to shreds. Now, standing there in their boxers, the guards no longer seemed such a threat. But I wanted to wreak a little havoc . . .

Umbreon proceeded to Bite the men's hindquarters, sending them packing. Just as they reached the relative safety of a nearby building, Espeon levitated them for a moment before throwing them further than the eye could see.

I turned to my friends with a sadistic grin. "Need anything else?"

* * *

**Kohaku**

I laughed as Marle finished off the dumbfounded guards and checked my pack, mentally noting everything I had.

I hoped the clunky old bus wouldn't give out before the ride was over. Vulpix sat on my lap, licking his front paws - I patted his head and got a hearty "Vulpix" (Thanks) in return.

I cringed as we went over a large rock and wondered for the tenth time if voting for Stan to drive was such a good idea. I heard someone comment on how many supplies we had on the bus and in each pack. It looked like we were doing OK for now.

I decided to close my eyes so that, if nothing else, I could at least get some rest. But, just as I closed my eyes, I felt a sudden jolt and was thrown forward. The bus had stopped.

* * *

**Melissa**

We set up camp in the hills and started sorting ourselves into shifts so that there would always be someone on guard while the rest of us slept.

"OK," said Leon. "Stan and I will take the first watch, then Ben and Melissa, then Kohaku and Marle and that leaves Drake and Monica for the dawn watch.

While the rest of us bedded down inside the bus, Leon and Stan took up position outside. I lay awake, staring at the starry sky and thinking about the strange path my life had taken since I received that letter. I thought about the world as it once was, of shopping and music and everything that most teenage girls take for granted - or rather USED to take for granted. Pidgeotto and Sunflora's Poke Balls were in my pockets as usual and touching them gave me a sense of connection to the world that had been destroyed.

When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed that I was in a Pokemon League battle with Pidgeotto pitted against my opponent's Vaporeon.

"Pidgeotto - Tackle!" I ordered, watching as she prepared to launch into the Attack.

"Vaporeon - Water Gun!" my opponent countered.

It was really exciting to be battling at this level and, as I glanced towards the crowd, I saw my mum watching me with an expression of pride on her face. I was winning - one advantage of using a Flying Type was that it could keep out of range of most Attacks - and felt myself swelling with pride (metaphorically speaking, of course.)

"Pidgeotto - Gust Attack!" I called. In response, Pidgeotto flapped her wings and whipped up a tornado to blow Vaporeon off his feet.

But, before the Gust could hit home, I was woken by someone shaking my shoulder. I opened a bleary eye. "What is it?" I asked, quite prepared to roll over and go straight back to sleep.

"Melissa, it's your turn on watch," said Leon once I had woken up properly. "Ben's already out there."

It was unreal, sitting out there in the middle of nowhere, knowing that there was no settlement for miles around except the Location In my imagination, every shadow seemed to be Tyler Banks and his cronies ready to jump on us and drag us back to the Location, where we would surely be in serious trouble for disobeying the order that everyone was to stay onsite until the people running Project Alpha were satisfied the plague no longer presented any danger.

Thinking I might feel better with a little company, I let Pidgeotto out of her Poke Ball and she gave me an affectionate nibble with her beak.

We were eight teenagers facing an uncertain future, but I knew that, no matter what happened, we would stick together.

* * *

**Kohaku**

I was woken from a dreamless sleep with an eerie feeling of foreboding. Marle yawned and got up as well.

Marle sat on a flat rock and drank either coffee or green tea - I couldn't tell which because my nose was stuffed like it always was when it was cold. I shivered and pulled the blanket closer around me.

Vulpix jumped into my lap and whined. I didn't feel very good about this and kept my eyes open as I looked around. Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the bushes . . .

I sighed with relief as I realised it was only a Pokemon, a Mareep. But my relief vanished as I noticed the look of panic on its face as it quickly spoke to me, telling me THEY had found out we were gone and were tracking us right now.

"What! How!" I cried, more to myself than anything else. I quickly jumped up, startling Marle from the other side of the grove.

* * *

**Melissa**

There was this kid called Grey whom we caught skulking around just before we left and decided to take along for the ride. He was one of Drake's hut-mates, but I didn't know too much about him. However, I thought he looked rather shifty - he had this way of looking at people like he was studying them closely.

"I think we'd better keep an eye on him," I whispered to the others one day while Grey was out of earshot.

Marle agreed - she'd been sensing that something wasn't right about Grey, but she wasn't sure what. All we knew was that we had to keep him from escaping and turning us in to Alpha Division. If that happened . . . well, I didn't have to be a Timeseer to know what they would do to us. I read this book called "The Handmaid's Tale" once; it was set in a society run by religious fundamentalists who treated dissenters very harshly. I knew instinctively that Alpha Division would be like the regime in that book.

I wondered how things were at the Location. Had Alpha Division already staged their little coup? Or was there still time to get back there and get everyone out. I put that idea to Stan, but he shook his head.

"I don't see how it'll work," he told me. "We've already left the Location when we weren't supposed to - if we go back, they'll think we're carrying the plague and send us away. Melissa, we've got to look out for ourselves . . ."

"I guess you're right," I said, looking down at the ground.

After we had been on the road for a few days, we reached the outskirts of a town. We approached with some trepidation, none of us sure what to expect.

The place was a mess. All the shops had evidently been looted as survivors of the plague, finding themselves in a world with no laws and no law enforcement, helped themselves to what they needed as and when they needed it. But we all hoped that there would be some things left at least.

We divided into scavenging teams and set off to see what we could find. I was with Marle and Kohaku and the three of us decided to check out an abandoned cafe.

"Get me a portion of fries!" joked Kohaku as we searched the stockroom.

"Right now, I could murder a cheese and tomato sandwich," added Marle.

I thought for a moment, thinking how strange it was that we had changed so much in so short a time. Before all this happened, we would have thought twice about raiding a cafe to get food - but we now had no choice. It was a changed world and we had to adapt or die.

* * *

**Ben**

"There are some things I'd gladly do to stay alive, but stealing's not one of them," I told Stan and Drake as they continue to load the contents of a small butcher's meat counter into their sacks.

"Look around you, Ben," Drake said. "There's no-one left to own this food - so how can it be stealing?"

"We have to keep to our principles," I said quietly. "Otherwise, we might as well be back at the Location for all the good it'd do us."

"Then you can stick to your principles," Stan told me. "And we'll stick to staying alive."

"Well, can't we pay for the food we take?"

Stan snorted indignantly. "Pay WHO exactly? And with WHAT?" he demanded.

"We could leave an IOU or something," I suggested. "I mean, it's so fundamentally wrong . . ."

"OK - enough of the chat. We're shipping out," Drake cut in. "Let's get this haul back to the others and cook us a meal."

"But - but . . ." I protested.

"Look, Ben - you haven't really helped at all, have you?" Stan said reasonbly. "So, you're not really a criminal . . ." He and Drake walked off with their full sacks as I stared sadly at the smashed-up butcher's.

"We can't let reason go to pot just because the world has," I thought sadly.

* * *

**Melissa**

As I crept down a dark alleyway with Marle and Kohaku, I thought about what we had done in the cafe. We had managed to find a catering-size can of rice pudding, three bottles of mineral water and a few packets of pasta - and that was about it. Everything else must have been looted long ago.

Suddenly, four figures out at us - they were men, but they had become ruthless in their desire to survive and no-one else mattered to them. When they saw us, all they saw was the chance of a free meal . . .

"Oi!" one of them shouted. "Got any grub?"

"Yes!" Kohaku shot back. "But you're not getting it!"

"In that case," said another of the men, "we'll have to find a way to force you . . ." With that, he threw a Poke Ball and released a Tyranitar. The fierce creature promptly sprung at Kohaku and sent her flying into a nearby wall, putting her temporarily out of action. The men closed in around Marle and I . . .

"See what happens when you oppose us?" one of them said. "Now - hand over any food you've got or you'll end up like your friend there!" He nodded towards Kohaku, who lay facedown against the wall.

"Not so fast!" Marle retorted. "Umbreon - go!"

"Pidgeotto - get them!" I called seconds later.

"You fools!" I yelled in between directing Pidgeotto to ambush the thugs from the air while Umbreon launched an assault from the ground. "Can't you see you've descended to the level of . . . of beasts!"

"It's every man for himself these days, missie," the man who'd set his Tyranitar on Kohaku retorted. We need food so we get it any way we can! And who's gonna stop us? Officer Jenny?"

"Just because there's no law any more doesn't mean you can do as you please!" retorted Marle. But the man clearly thought he could because he grabbed hold of her before she had chance to react and pinned her to the ground.

I instinctively knew what he meant to do and that I had to stop him. So, without really thinking about it, I put my years of athletics training into practice, vaulting over the heads of our tormentors as they looked on in amazement. Then, I grabbed the man who had Marle pinned to the ground from behind and elbowed him in the stomach.

Winded, he staggered upright and stared at us. I could see from the look on his face that he hadn't expected any of us to fight back. I called to Pidgeotto and looked at the men sternly. "Listen," I said. "You'd better get out of this alley fast - or I'll set my Pidgeotto on you! I'll give you until the count of ten . . . one . . . two . . . three . . ."

As if to emphasise my words, Pidgeotto stretched her talons out and made as if to claw the nearest man's face. It was enough to make them realise that we meant business and they quickly left, muttering about finding "easier pickings somewhere else".

I checked on Marle and was relieved to find she seemed to be unhurt apart from a slight cut on her forehead. But Kohaku needed help fast and there was no way she would get it here - if we took her back to the bus, we would be able to use the first aid kit and patch her up a little.

"Quick!" I told Marle as I lifted Kohaku under her shoulders. "Get hold of her legs and help me get her out of here!"

* * *

**Drake**

"The fridge in the bus won't take all this. Unless we eat it tonight, some of this meat will rot fast," Stan observed.

"Yeah, but we still got tones of beef jerky. That'll last a while," I replied.

Since we had appropriated this meat, Ben had remained fairly silent after an intially vocal outburst. I admired the fact he was a man of principle, but principles change according to the situation. "Cheer up, Ben," I said. "If we survive, I swear we'll go back there and . . .

Up ahead, Marle and Melissa were carrying Kohaku to the bus. Stan threw his sack of meat onto me as he ran on ahead. I swore and tossed the meat to Ben, who was caught off-guard and fell over backwards.

Stan was already opening the first aid kit when I got there and Marle and Melissa had placed Kohaku in the van. "Is she conscious?" I asked.

"No," replied Stan. "But pulse is OK and there doesn't seem to be anything really life-threatening."

I took a peek at her neck. "Already checked," said Marle. "You don't really think we'd carry her this far without . . ."

Ben then arrived on the scene with Leon, Grey and Monica in tow. "What happened?" he asked.

As Melissa told the story, Ben and I rolled Kohaku over into the recovery position. Then, we noticed a spreading blotch of red over a rip in her clothes - Ben pulled them back to reveal a laceration.

"Er, that could be problem," I mused.

"Not really," said Grey. "But do you want to take care of this one or should I?"

"Be my guest," I replied.

"Wrong answer, bud," he said after checking the first aid kit. "We're out of butterfly bandages."

"WHAT!" I demanded.

"Looks like we gotta get medieval," he said, tossing me the needle and line. "I'll apply the pressure bandage the moment you're done stiching.

* * *

**Melissa**

I sat by Kohaku as she regained consciousness. Moaning faintly, she opened her eyes and looked around.

"Wh - what happened?" she asked, struggling to sit up. "How in the world did I get here?"

I reached out to restrain her. "Don't try to move," I warned her. "We got in a fight and you were injured - me and Marle brought you back here."

"O - OK."

We were up against it and no mistake, a group of teenagers living in a lawless anarchy of a world. The only things we had to protect ourselves were the special talents each of us had, our Pokemon and each other.

The events of the last few months had changed all of us; we were much tougher than we had been when we received those letters telling us we had been chosen for Project Alpha. I looked round at everyone and, in that moment, I knew we were going to come through this together - all of us.

My thoughts were cut off abruptly as the heavens opened and rain started pelting down. I watched as the the water pelted down on the windows of the bus like a series of rivers.

* * *

**Ben**

I hand't done any complaining for a while so the rain cheered me up somewhat in that it gave me something to moan about. Moaning was what normal kids did - they moaned about things like clothes, music, school and the fact they had obviously been adopted. But, since no other alternative was going to present itself, I had to make do with grumbling about the weather.

"Great, this is just what we need - a little light rain to make the day complete!" I said sarcastically

"So, who attacked you guys?" Grey asked nervously.

"Well . . . there's good news and bad news to that story," Marle said.

"Oh please let's hear the bad news first!" I said sarcastically. "I could do with some cheering up!" As usual, everyone ignored me.

"Well, the good news is that we found some other humans," Melissa said, picking up the story. There was a chorus of cheers from the others at the mention of other humans.

"Hey! Hey - hold up!" Marle said loudly. "They were bunch of total savages and they attacked us for food."

"You mean they came after you for the stuff you were carrying?" I asked. "Or did they attack you for, well . . . you?"

"Hey! Humans aren't cannibals, Ben!" Stan said.

"But, under conditions like these, who knows?" added Drake.

"Oh, thank you, Mr Sunshine - that really makes me feel a lot safer!" I said scornfully, giving voice to my opinions.

"Whatever they eat, we need to take shelter before we all die of pneumonia," said Marle. She glanced worriedly at Kohaku.

Sheesh! And they called me a pessimist . . .


	7. Chapter Seven

﻿ 

**

Chapter Seven

**

**Stan**

Gradually, as the hours passed, Kohaku looked happier and happier. I thought she was getting better, but she was actually getting worse.

Grey wasn't here when it happened - he was out finding water and seemed to be taking a very long time about it.

Then, the unthinkable happened - Kohaku went postal. The last thing we saw before she left was her face, grinning from ear to ear with a crazy maniacal smile.

Grey never came back. We thought a street gang had killed him, but we were wrong.

* * *

**Marle**

Some of us were still in shock several hours later. Kohaku had cussed several of us up and down before she finally disappeared. I had never seen anyone so mad in my life - and that was saying something.

"Well, shouldn't we go look for her or something?" I finally asked.

"Didn't you hear her?" Ben demanded. "Sheesh - I thought she cussed you out the worst of all! She obviously doesn't wanted to hang round with us any more."

"Don't be so oblivious, Ben!" I commented, smacking him upside the head. "She's obviously sick - she could have any number of head injuries! We've got to find her - and fast!"

* * *

**Drake**

I glanced outside. The rain had stopped ever so slightly, but the going would be just as difficult.

"Someone's got to stay behind to guard the bus," I observed. The bus had been concealed in the wreck of an old house, but there were no guarantees it would be safe there.

"The trouble with looking for a mad person is that there's no logical place they'd go, so Kohaku could be anywhere in her state," muttered Stan

I looked outside again and realised that perhaps we could find her if we left immediately. "Well, I'll go out to look first," I said. "I'll be taking Marle with me. Anyone who wants to follow, make sure you go in pairs."

The others began deciding when each team would go out and look while I put on my coat and grabbed a map, some beef jerky and a compass before stepping outside. Marle stepped out a second later.

"Where should we start looking?" she asked.

"Those people that attacked you - were they wearing any shoes?" I asked in reply.

"No - they looked like savages."

I nodded. "So Kohaku's tracks will be the only ones that look like shoes." I stared at the ground - once too hard to leave an imprint on, it was now so muddy any tracks would wash away within the hour. "Be careful where you leave your own tracks," I warned. "Those other . . . people might still be on the prowl. Ready to go?"

"Ready when you are."

I nodded and we started looking and listening for any sign of Kohaku.

* * *

**Marle**

A couple of hours passed with no sign of Kohaku. I was alamost ready to give up, but Drake seemed never to tire. We searched everywhere, but the rain was quickly erasing whatever tracks there might have been.

Then, I spotted something.

"Drake! Come here - quickly!"

He hurried over. "What?"

"Does that look like the heel-print of a tennis shoe - or is it just my imagination and overwhelming desire to find some trace of Kohaku?" I asked.

Both of us spent several minutes staring silently at the mud.

"You may have something there, Marle," said Drake. "But how in the world did she get this far without us finding any sign of . . . wait a minute!"

He pointed to an overhang just above our heads. "That's the only reason this print hasn't been completely washed away," he went on. "What luck!"

After debating whether or not we should return and notify the others, we decided it would waste too much time and started off on Kohaku's trail.

* * *

**Drake**

"Yes! Now that we're on the trail . . . Blaze - go!"

There was a burst of light as Blaze materialised before me. "Blaze, do you smell Kohaku?" I asked.

Blaze looked at me in confusion and I realised he had never been introduced to Kohaku, so he had no idea what I was talking about.

"You know - the girl who can talk to Pokemon?"

Blaze nodded and took a sniff, sneezing seconds afterwards. He was reacting poorly to the wet weather, which meant I'd have to recall him once he'd pointed us in the right direction.

"ARRRC!" Blaze blew an Ember to the north, indicating where he thought Kohaku was.

"That way? Good work, Blaze!"

I recalled Blaze before heading north with Marle.

* * *

**Melissa**

I sent my Pidgeotto to search from the air, reasoning that she might have a better chance of spotting Kohaku than we did down on the ground.

After a while, she came winging back and squawked at me, pointing with her wing. "What is it?" I asked. "Did you find something?"

She nodded and flew off in the direction she had come. Wishing I shared Kohaku's ability to talk Pokemon languages, I followed her. The trail took me out of town and onto an abandoned stretch of road where abandoned cars stood in limbo, their journeys destined never to be completed.

Kohaku herself was lying on her side in a ditch. I went up to her and gently shook her awake.

"Kohaku," I said. "It's Melissa - can you hear me?"

She mumbled something, evidently feeling too groggy to speak coherently, but it was enough for me and I helped her to her feet.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here," I said.

Kohaku leaned on me heavily as we made our way back south. When we got back to the bus, there was no sign of the others; they were clearly still out searching. But Kohaku was found now - I had brought her back and was determined to help her in any way I could. I helped her lie down and stooped to ask her what was wrong.

"I don't know what came over me," she said. "I guess I just snapped when I walked out on you guys - then, I sort of passed out by the roadside . . ."

"It was probably the injury you suffered in that fight," I told her. "I think you'd better stay still for a while in case you're concussed. I'll send Pidgeotto to fetch the others and let them know you're here."

Rummaging in the glove compartment, I found a Biro and a piece of notepaper. I checked the Biro was working before scribbling:

_Kohaku found._

on the bit of paper. Then, I called Pidgeotto over and asked her to take the note and go find the others. She picked the note up in her beak and flew away as I watched her go.

* * *

**Drake**

A squawk from above caught my attention. Circling around twenty feet up was a Pidgeotto carrying a piece of paper.

"Hey - isn't that Melissa's Pidgeotto?" asked Marle.

"Probably," I replied. "I wonder what it's carrying . . ."

The Pidgeotto landed next to Marle's foot. Marle patted her on the head and read what was on the piece of paper. "Kohaku found - well, that saves us some toruble," she said.

I nodded in the direction of the town. "We should head back then," I said.

We had begun to retrace our steps when I was alerted by the distinctive smell of rotting flesh. "What is that smell?" Marle asked in disgust.

I scanned the undergrowth and spotted a flash of white; upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the lower half of a human skeleton. I swore and leaned closer to get a better look at it.

"This wasn't here before," I observed.

Marle simply stared at it in horror. "Did it die of the plague?" she asked.

"Not likely - the plague badly decalcifies bones in its first stages and these are still in good . . . hang on!"

Upon closer inspection, I saw that some of the bones had sustained damage and the pelvis had something that looked almost like a bite mark.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Marle when I pointed it out. "Are there carnivorous Pokemon out here?"

"Maybe, but this is a HUMAN bite mark!"

Shocked, we both stared at the skeleton for a while. I glanced at Marle's face to see if she foresaw some nasty fate about to befall us, but she showed no sign of it.

"I think we'd better head out," I muttered.

* * *

**Ben**

"Kohaku!" I shouted for the umpteenth time. As usual, I got no response.

Beside me, Stan tried to scan both sides of the street at once. Progress was painfully slow due to the myriad of side streets and back alleys in this shell of a city.

"It could take us weeks to find Kohaku if she isn't able to reply," Stan told me icily.

"That's funny," I replied. "Because I just thought to myself . . ." Stan stopped and grabbed me by the collar, glaring at me angrily.

"What's funny, Ben?" he demanded. "Death? Losing one of the only friends you've got? Is all this amusing to you?"

He let go of me and gestured towards the deserted wasteland of the city all around us. "Because I sure as hell am not laughing, Ben," he told me.

He shoved me backwards and I tripped on the kerb, landing hard on my left side. I felt sure he was going to beat me to death right there and then - until we heard laughter. It was human laugh all right, but it sounded somehow different to your regular laugh - sort of . . . insane.

Stan and I turned to look in the direction it had come from and both our jaws dropped at the same time. Standing in the doorway of yet another faceless building, a man leered at the sight of our fighting. His white shrt stained with dirt and what looked like blood, he smiled the smile of a madman at us from that darkened portal and beckoned us towards him . . .

When he saw the fear on our faces, his smile widened and he took a step towards us . . . then another.

He was crossing the street over to us and if we didn't move he would reach us in a matter of seconds. It was lucky that Stan dragged me back up off the pavement at that exact moment.

"Holy crap, Ben!" he hissed. "Get the hell out of here now!"

Without a second thought, we stumbled off down the street - pursued by the grinning businessman.

* * *

**Stan**

I ran for the hills, dragging a struggling Ben behind me as the crazy man chased us through the streets.

By sheer luck, I turned a corner and smashed into Marle and the others. The businessman ran past us down another street . . .

We were all here now - except Ben . . .

* * *

**Ben**

"Hey! Wait for me, you guys!" I called as I recognised the fleeting forms of the others charging hell for leather down the street with Stan.

The unexpected collision with them had thrown me into the road and, when I tried to push myself up, I realised just how much my left arm was hurting. I switched to my other arm and succeeded in getting back on my feet again, albeit with a pounding head and the increasingly likely prospect of a broken leg.

I hobbled round the corner and after the others, who were by now already up the other end of the street and practically home free. It felt like something out a movie as I forced myself up the road as quickly as possible.

Any second now, I expected to be cut down by some unseen menace stalking me across the final stretch back to the bus as I dragged my hurt leg ineffectually behind me, not caring if I caused it permanent damage . . .

The moment I passed an alley, they leapt out at me, all flailing limbs and slightly crazed smiles. I guess nobody heard the commotion as they knocked me down and dragged my battered body off into their dark new world . . .

* * *

**Drake**

The streets ahead were all seemingly deserted, the silence and decay that had fallen on the town belying the menace that lurked within. I had a hard time deciding whether it would be safer in the nearby forest or the town where we had to deal with the voracious humans that prowled the alleyways. Given my knowledge of bushcraft, I'd take the forest any day . . .

"Where to now?" asked Monica.

I looked at the map and compared it with what I saw around me. It was bit harder than it should have been given the age of the map since, where there should have been buildings, there were either heaps of crumbled concrete or decaying shells.

"Well, another left will bring us to the main road out of town and, after two days, it takes us to the sea," I said.

"It'd take us far away from the town and our old camp quickly and easily," Stan noted, tracing his finger along the black line on the map.

"Which is exactly why we're not taking it," I replied.

"Why not?" asked Kohaku. "If it's so fast, it'll get us further away from . . . oh."

"Exactly - the old Alpha Crew will be looking for us there and they'll be moving way faster than us," replied Stan. "They won't be stopping for food either - and that means we'll be going into the forest."

I looked at the map again. There was a mountain range surrounding the town and, though by no mean visible from here, it would still pose a problem if we just gallivanted into the forest willy nilly. "Actually, Stan," I said. "I think we should follow the road for about fourteen miles and then head due north. There's a gap in the mountain range that leads to a river - which should take us to shore about fifty miles further north of the road."

I moved the map round for the others to see. "There's also around fifteen other possible exits, so the odds of guessing where we are will be hard," I went on. "This route will be tough going, but it gives us water and we can build a boat too. The river's big enough and there are no waterfalls . . ."

There was general assent to the plan, but it all rested on the hope that they wouldn't catch us on the road and that they weren't great trackers.

"OK, ready to go then?" asked Stan.

Then something occured to him. "Hey! Where's Ben?"

* * *

**Ben**

"You are our servant now!" one of them said to me.

"You will obey us and the great Plague Lord Tyler Banks!" said another.

"Cease your preaching, you worthless curs!" Tyler Banks said as he loomed out of the darkness. "Well, at least you're awake, dog!" he said to me.

I suddenly felt the world around me begin to tip softly and I was amazed that I didn't slide over and smack into the far wall. Tyler and his cronies simply stood and laughed, lit by some unholy light.

I suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to protest at this strange ritual and, without thinking, I opened my mouth and started to call out.

Tyler was there immediately - his right hand snapped back and the end of the cat-'o-nine-tails came down hard across my face. "SHUT UP, YOU LILY-LIVERED PIECE OF . . .!"

I sat bolt upright and smacked my head against a solid metal panel. The pain shot through me like wildfire and I immediately raised my hands to stem the flow of blood. After a while, the the pain dulled to a gentle throb and I risked taking a hand away from my aching cranium.

I then bashed my skull again as I leapt up in fright as I recoiled at what I'd just felt. Luckily, my pain didn't go unrewarded this time - there was the gentle scraping of metal against metal as the ceiling of my prison slid off the walls, followed by the loud crash of it hitting the floor outside. I squinted up at the motionless fan mounted high on the wall and sat up, sinking my hands back into the awful substance around me.

The feeling of fresh air was a welcome relief from what I suddenly realised was the rather organic odour I'd been stuck in the box with. I clambered out of the metal prison and rolled over the side onto what I guessed was concrete.

I landed facing the strange box, which was white on the outside and, as they came into focus, I managed to read the words printed on the side in large black letters:

**COLD STORAGE**

I had spent the last few hours in a powerless freezer.

* * *

**Melissa**

Eventually, Ben managed to get back to us and told us about the close call he'd had in some defunct fridge.

The journey downriver passed without incident. When we had reached land, I stood gazing at the decaying remnants of our civilisation and thought about how I had been forced to put my trust in seven other teenagers who had been complete strangers to me until we all got picked to take part in Project Alpha. Now, I could hardly imagine life without Marle, Stan, Monica and the rest - we were a team and we were going to get through this together.

No matter what happened, I was determined that some good would come out of all this - if we could find anything even remotely good in this wreck of a world. I also knew we had to steer clear of Tyler Banks and his thugs in case they did something unspeakable to us for running out on the Project.

Political traitors - that was what we would be in Tyler's eyes. As far as he was concerned, we were little better than defectors who had gone over to enemy territory and we could expect no mercy if he ever caught up with us. Our only hope was to pray that fear of the plague kept him at the Location.

"Melissa?"

It was Marle who had approached me from behind and tapped my shoulder. I looked at her, at the girl I had known for little more than a year but who had become my closest friend during that time.

"Sorry, I was just wondering how all this is gonna end," I told her. "Will we ever find somewhere we don't have to worry about our safety all the time?"

I doubt it," Marle told me. "And I don't have to be a Timeseer to know that - this is one of those times when you've got to fight. We've got to build a new world together."

I smiled. "I guess we'll have to give it our best shot," I said.

Marle picked up her Umbreon, who had been rubbing against her legs, and nodded. "Yes," she said. "We'll do our best - all of us."


	8. Chapter Eight

﻿ 

**

Chapter Eight

**

**Melissa**

"Do you ever wonder if our parents and everyone else we used to know survived?" I asked Monica.

She sighed. "If they did, they won't be able to come to us," she said shortly. "I don't mind what happened to mine anyway - they never cared two cents for me . . ."

I sighed as well and stared towards the horizon, remembering the world as I had once known it when I was an ordinary teenaged girl training my Pidgeotto and Sunflora. Now, thanks to some jerk with nothing better to do than use germs as weapons, all the things we once took for granted were gone.

We had to deal with the situation as best we could, starting by finding somewhere to stop for the night. Luckily, there was a motel just round the corner - it stank of decay now, but it still looked fairly sound. We found a visitors' book at reception and, just for fun, we signed it using a felt pen Marle found in her pocket.

_Better than where I've been sleeping lately_ was what I wrote.

* * *

**Drake**

Night had swept quickly over the valley, prompting everyone to duck inside the motel for dinner rations and a good night's sleep.

Before I went to bed, I went back outside to take in the night sky. No matter how many times I looked up, I never got tired of strgazing - it was so peaceful staring up at the sky during the calm, quiet night . . .

I frowned and brought my gaze down to the forest on the opposite side of the road. It was too quiet - no Pokemon cries, rustling or fluttering. Aside from the soft sounds from within the motel, there was no sign of anything around. I moved a little further away from the motel, but I still couldn't hear anything.

"Hey, Drake! What you up to?"

I turned round to see Marle and Stan in the doorway. Stan was still finishing his beef jerky, the only meat we could salvage from the bus.

"Oh, not much - just looking for some Pokemon," I replied.

"What? At this time of night?" Marle asked.

I shook my head and walked back towards the motel. Before I went back inside, I looked back at the forest, wondering if I was just parnoid or really onto something. Only major activity could clear an area of Pokemon, but everything seemed virtually undisturbed.

When Marle and Stan had gotten to their rooms, I let Blaze and Megavolt out. "Guys, I've got a bad feeling about this," I said. "Megavolt, keep watch until midnight. Blaze, you take it until three and I'll go from three until dawn. If ANYTHING happens, go to me first. I want to decide if there's any danger."

The two of them nodded in acknowledgement - it wasn't the first time I'd asked them to keep watch. "Oh well, good night," I said. "Megavolt, we're in Room 4 - you'll find us there.

Megavolt then dutifully hopped over to the door while Blaze and I settled into the room we had picked out for ourselves. Blaze settled down on the bed.

"Go ahead, buddy - I'll go sleep on the chair."

Blaze lay still for a moment. "Arrc," he told me. I didn't fully understand him, but I knew he meant "you just be ready in case there IS something out there."

* * *

**Melissa**

I was standing by the window of my motel room, staring into the all-encompassing night. All the streetlapms had failed long ago and the only source of light came from the full moon hanging in the sky like a giant lightbulb.

Suddenly, I saw a shooting star, a streak of light caused by a small rock entering the atmosphere, and I remembered something I used to do when I was little. My mum told me that, if I saw a shooting star, I could make a wish.

I closed my eyes and tried to think what it was I wanted most of all. So many things were lost to me and I knew no amount of wishing would bring them back. No amount of wishing would make the world as it had been before the plague.

In the end, I backed away from the window, but not before making my wish. I wished for us all to come through this together.

I had just fallen asleep, when I heard an impatient knocking on the door. "Melissa! Get up now!" yelled Stan's voice from out in the corridor.

Grumbling to myself, I got out of bed and made my way over to the door. Pushing it open, I asked what he was doing wakin g me up at goodness only knew what time.

"Quick, Melissa!" Stan urged. "Grab your Pokemon and get out! Marle had one of her visions - she said the whole place is gonna go up in flames!"

Wasting no time, I snatched Pidgeotto and Sunflora's Poke Balls and raced out into the corridor. Already, I could see smoke in the distance . . .

"Would you mind telling me what's going on?" I asked Stan.

"Ben and Leon," he said shortly. "They lit a fire in the main lounge and they were supposed to bank it overnight, only . . ."

" . . . they forgot to do so," I finished. "Now, where's the nearest fire escape?"

"Down there," said Stan, pointing to a faded but still readable fire escape notice.

Stan and I clattered down the metal staircase just as the fire started to take hold. We met up with the others in the car park - or at least we met up with Ben, Drake, Leon, Marle and Kohaku.

"Where's Monica?" I asked anxiously.

"Looking for her Charizard's Poke Ball," replied Marle.

"You mean . . . she's still inside!"

Kohaku nodded. "I TOLD her to leave it and run, but she wouldn't," she told me.

I knew instinctively what I had to do - get back inside and rescue Monica. I knew what she was doing for the Charizard she'd raised from a Charmander; I would have done the same for my Pokemon, but I couldn't believe anyone would risk their life for the sake of a Pokemon.

I coughed on the smoke as I made my way through the burning building, calling Monica's name between coughs. Finally, on the third storey, I heard a faint answering call. "M - Melissa?" said Monica in a barely audible voice.

I groped my way towards the sound of her voice and found her crouching by a window, her Charizard's Poke Ball clutched in her hand. "Are you OK?" I asked, kneeling beside her. "What were you thinking going into a burning building?"

I could ask you the same question," Monica said. "But I think we'd better get out of here first."

"I know - but HOW?" I demanded. The way I had come was blocked by flames, meaning we had no choice but to risk the window. And, since it was too high up for us to just jump out, we would have to use her Charizard to get us to safety.

"Quick, Monica!" I urged. "Release your Charizard!"

Monica nodded and threw the Poke Ball she was holding. "Charizard - go!" she called as her Charizard emerged in a flash of light.

"Now - break down the wall and fly us to safety!" Monica ordered as she climbed onto her Charizard's broad back and I got up behind her. In response, Charizard did a Tackle Attack on the wall, making a hole large enough for us to fly through.

It was a miracle we all got out of the burning motel unscathed, but Stan and Drake were pretty ticked off at Ben and Leon.

"Why didn't you stop to check that fire was banked?" Stan demanded as we made our way down an abandoned stretch of road. "You could've gotten us killed!"

"Sorry," Ben muttered.

"Sorry ain't good enough!" Stan shot back. "I think it's time someone . . ."

I could see an argument brewing, something none of us needed right now, and decided the direct approach might work best. So I marched over to Ben and Stan, grabbed each of them by their collars and banged their heads together.

"Stop acting like spoilt little children!" I yelled.

* * *

**Ben**

Right then, I figured anything was better than hanging around with Stan - after all, he always seemed to want to pick a fight with me and I was always the one who got the blame in the end.

Of course, he got in trouble too, but that wasn't the point. The point was our team couldn't work if we kept bickering. But I couldn't abandon my friends after all we'd been through - there had to be another way to save the situation.

Stan wouldn't listen to reason no matter how hard I tried; he was too far gone into his own little world where it was every man for himself . . . Well, OK, maybe he just wanted me out, but you couldn't have that kind of attitude in our situation. I eventually decided that, if I couldn't beat him, I'd have to join him - or at least hit him with something hard and claim the thugs got him.

My life could turn out to be a success yet.

* * *

**Melissa**

I sometimes wondered if we'd have been better taking our chances at the Location. True, Tyler Banks had all the makings of a dictator, but at least we'd have food and shelter whereas, out here, we were forced to fight against the elements. When I next saw my reflection - in the mirror at some public loos - I almost didn't recognise myself.

Part of it was probably down to the fact I hadn't looked in a mirror for a while, but I was still shocked. My hair was dirty and matted from lack of washing and I was wearing a grubby t-shirt and jeans. I looked like a cross between Lara Croft and La Femme Nikita.

"Will this madness ever end?" I wondered to myself as I joined the others in the camp we'd built in an alley. Ben and Drake had found some plastic sheeting and we'd used it to set up some makeshift tents. I was sharing with Marle and I entered to find her stroking her Espeon with a decidedly preoccupied air . . .

"Marle?" I whispered, kneeling down beside her.

She looked up at me. "Hmm?" she said questioningly.

"Is something bothering you? Only you seem to have a lot on your mind."

It's just . . ." Marle paused to collect her thoughts.

But it turned out that I would have to wait to hear what was bothering my friend. Suddenly, the sound of a diesel engine filled the air to cut off our conversation. Me and Marle exchanged panic-stricken glances as we both wondered the same thing - who was it and what did they want.

Our answer came within moments. "Attention, Project Alpha fugitives!" said a voice directed from a megaphone. "We have you outnumbered! Surrender and no-one will get hurt! We will shoot anyone who tries to escape on sight!"

I knew we had no choice and the others knew it too. Trembling with anticipation, we crept out of our hiding place to find ourselves facing the entire Alpha Division. Tyler Banks was there with a satisfied smirk on his face and, standing beside him, was Grey.

"G - Grey?" Drake stammered as he recognised his former hut-mate. "But . . . why?"

"Silence!" one of Tyler's thugs barked. "Mr Kindler here very kindly informed us of your insubordination and we're here to take you back to the Location . . ."

They forced us into an army truck and drove us through the ruins of our civilisation. I was scared, wondering if our captors would have us killed for running away. Or would we get away with a "milder" punishment such as beatings or starvation rations. Either way, I knew we would not get a warm reception . . .

"Looks like we've had it," said Ben, slumping down against the tail-board. Stan looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped himself because he and Ben weren't on speaking terms since the fire at the motel."

"No!" I retorted. "Whatever happens, we mustn't give up!"

Kohaku agreed. "Yeah," she said, looking down at her Vulpix's Poke Ball. "We've survived so far and we can survive this . . ."

As soon as Tyler and his thugs got us back to the Location, they shoved us into a hut and locked the door.

I slumped to the floor, wondering what was going to happen to us now that we were at the mercy of a band of thugs. "We'll have to fight," I said out loud, staring down at Pidgeotto and Sunflora's Poke Balls. "We can't let Tyler win."

I know - but what can WE do?" Monica demanded, wringing her hands. This wasn't usual for her - she'd always seemed like the sort of person who could handle any crisis. I guess the stresses of the last few days were getting to her.

"For one thing, try joining the Freedom League," said a whispered voice from the next room. We all looked round with a start as it occured to us that we weren't Tyler's only prisoners and we might find allies among our fellow captives.

I edged closer to the door. "Who's in there?" I whispered, hoping that there was no guard to hear me.

"Thirteen of us - all of whom offended Tyler Banks and his cronies," said the prisoner. It was a male voice, but I didn't know who it was. "But we decided we weren't going to let him win. Instead, we will FIGHT - all of us!"

We soon learned the full enormity of what Tyler Banks had been doing - and it shocked all of us.

Late one night, he and the rest of Alpha Division locked the staff in their huts and declared that they were going to run things now. The first thing they did was abolish the old Divisions and "marry" off everyone who was old enough to reproduce. Tyler also warned that any couple who failed to produce at least one child within the next three years would be severely punished - I did not want to think about what that could mean.

Steve, the man who had started the Freedom League, told me everything. He said people were being forced to work day and night, beaten if they faltered and kept in check by the threat of having any Pokemon they'd brought with them confiscated and killed. One night, a group of people - Steve was one of them - tried to make a break for it like my group had done. But, unlike us, they were caught straight away.

"That's my Golduck," Steve explained, showing me a dog-eared photo. "My best friend, raised from a Psyduck. But THEY took . . ."

He could not go on and I understood how he must feel. If ANYTHING ever happened to Pidgeotto and Sunflora . . .

* * *

**Drake**

I glanced round at the members of the Freedom League who now wished to make allies of us.

"You came at a good time - we were planning a bust-out tonight," Steve said, motioning our group to come together in the corner of the hut. He then made a series of hand gestures that sent the others scrambling to the windows and door to listen for anyone approaching.

"Let your minds relax," Steve whispered. "Just open them and trust me."

I shrugged, cleared my thoughts and was suddenly enveloped in strange sights and sounds. I heard Steve's voice coming through the din.

I am a psychic - what you are seeing are my memories of what Tyler did. I told you the story - now see for yourselves." Scenes from the past few weeks flashed by, showing us Tyler's near-complete control of the population.

When the telepathic link was finally broken, Steve had a grim expression on his face. From somewhere deep within me, I felt a great anger rising. I had only one thing on my mind - make Tyler pay. I had not been here during the atrocities, but what Steve had shown us was so vivid, I felt an obligation to join him.

"Well, I with you, Steve," I said, shaking his hand. The others also expressed their acceptance and we were soon exchanging greetings with the other members of the Freedom League.

"So what's the plan?" asked Stan. "There's too many of them to fight head-to-head."

"We're going to bust out of here quietly first - I'll fill you in on the rest as we go," Steve replied. "I've got a few friends out there who'll get us out in about twenty minutes. You lot better have your Pokemon ready by then."

"Well, you can count on my Pidgeotto and Sunflora," said Melissa. "We'll be ready."

I grabbed my own Poke Balls. "Well, Blaze and Megavolt . . Uh-oh!"

Everyone looked at me as I stared sheepishly at my Poke Balls. Megavolt's Poke Ball read as "Empty" - he had been on guard duty at the time of the fire and I didn't have chance to recall him afterwards.

"Megavolt ain't here!" I exclaimed.

"How could you just lose a Pokemon?" asked Stan.

It was still out when we got recaptured," I groaned.

* * *

**Melissa**

"Sunflora - Razor Leaf!" I called.

In response, Sunflora sent a barrage of sharp leaves in the direction of the makeshift targets we'd set up. I watched with satifaction as her Razor Leaf Attack ripped several targets to shreds - she was getting stronger every time we practiced for the battle that lay ahead.

"Good work, Sunflora," I said. "Now, Pidgeotto - it's your turn. Use your Gust Attack to blow the targets over!"

Pidgeotto squawked and flapped her wings to stir up a powerful gust of wind which sent the remaining targets (the ones Sunflora hadn't shredded) toppling over like dominos.

At the end of the session, I went to join Marle and Monica who were part of a group making slings for use in the battle should we need them. Monica was cutting strips of material from an old sheet Steve had found while Marle knotted them at either end and checked them for balance by attempting to hurl stones with them.

"How's it going?" I asked them.

"We've got about thirty done already," Marle told me as she launched another stone. But talking to me was obviously distracting her because the stone missed its target and ended up striking Stan on the back of the head.

"Ow! Watch it!" he yelled.

Marle muttered a hasty apology and went back to what she was doing. I looked at Stan for a long time, noticing for the first time that he looked remarkably like Tyler - it made me wonder about something and I plucked up the courage to go and ask him directly.

"Um? Stan?"

"Yeah?" He looked up briefly and went back to grooming his Growlithe.

"Stan," I went on, "I was just wondering about you and Tyler . . ."

Stan sighed deeply. "I was hoping I'd never have to tell you this," he said in a voice heavy with reluctance. "But Tyler Banks is my brother . . ."

I gasped - so that explained why they looked so alike. But it didn't explain why there was no love lost between them. Stan continued his explanation.

"Our mother was a famous movie star and I guess she kind of spoilt Tyler when he was little," he said. "So, when I was born, he was extremely jealous - he hated having to share the spotlight with me. One of my earliest memories is of Tyler locking me in our toy cupboard . . ."

"Anyway, I was twelve when I decided enough was enough and ran away from home. I pretended to myself that I didn't have a brother and, after a couple of years, I began to forget about Tyler. Then, when all this began . . ."

He stopped at that point and I chose not to press. Instead, I went to sit down on the floor and prepare myself mentally for what lay ahead.


	9. Chapter Nine

﻿ 

**

Chapter Nine

**

**Drake**

"Oi! Keep it down! Someone's coming!"

The hut fell silent as Steve ran to the nearest window. "Spare some food?" he whispered.

There was a slight delay before another whisper answered from outside. "I've got some escargots," the person said.

Kohaku, who had been preparing for battle with me, wore an expression of sheer puzzlement. "Passwords," I said. "It helps us remain inconspicuous."

There were a couple of thuds and clunks below us and Stve beckoned us to move towards him. Suddenly, the section of the floor we had been standing on dropped away and a boy's head poped up from the new exit.

"All set out here," he told Steve. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Steve replied. "All right, everyone - let's move out!"

* * *

**Melissa**

"OK," I told myself. "This is it . . ."

We were about to make a move on Tyler and his stooges, each of us determined to put an end to his evil plans if it was the last thing we did. I was shaking with fear and excitement - having never been in a battle before, I was unsure what to expect, but I hoped things would go our way.

Inside the hut Marle, Monica and I used to share, we found a stash of weapons hidden under the floorboards. Steve then proceeded to show us another of the Freedom League's secrets, a tunnel leading from the hut. It must have been dug since my group left, but I was unsure how it had been done without Tyler noticing.

"We needed some means to communicate without arousing suspicion," Steve explained when he saw our puzzled looks. "So we got some wild Pokemon that knew the Dig Attack to do a spot of tunnelling . . ."

He continued outlining his plan. "OK - Melissa, Marle, Stan and I will go down there and take the fork that leads to Tyler's quarters. Monica, Ben, Kohaku and Leon - you go alert everyone. Tell them to bring their Pokemon - and what weapons they can get hold of, in case they need them - and drive out our oppressors!"

"Hey, what about the rest of us?" demanded Drake, gesturing round at the remaining members of the Freedom League.

Steve grinned at him and removed a key from a chain around his neck. "You get to free the staff," he told him.

In answer to our questions, Steve explained that Tyler had been keeping the Project Alpha staff - including Sidney Dole - locked in their offices. Luckily, all the offices could be opened with the use of a single master key and the Freedom League had stolen it one night - right from under Tyler's nose.

I turned to my friends. "Let's do it," I said as I patted Pidgeotto and Sunflora's Poke Balls.

Marle nodded grimly, her jaw set in a determined expression. "Yes," she agreed. "Down with Tyler!"

With that, Marle, Steve, Stan and myself crept into the secret tunnel . . .

"It's been a long time coming, Tyler," Stan said grimly as we emerged from the tunnel. "But you're finally going to get what you deserve."

Tyler gave a cold laugh and gazed round at our little army of rebels. "Oh, yeah!" he said mockingly. "And how do you plan to do that, little brother?"

"Like this!" Stan shot back as he released both his Pokemon at the same time. "Nidoking - Horn Attack! Growlithe - use your Flame Wheel!"

That was almost a cue for people to start releasing their Pokemon. I sent Sunflora into the ranks of the Grass Types who were using their Vine Whips and Razor Leaves against Tyler and his followers, while Pidgeotto flew up to join the Flying Pokemon as they attacked from the air. Monica, riding on her Charizard, was leading the assault.

"OK, you lot!" she called to the Pokemon behind her. I could see several other Pidgeotto, as well as a Fearow and a Murkrow or two. In fact, all the non-Legendary Flying Pokemon seemed to be represented. "Get into formation and launch your attack!"

From then on, things were blurs around me - everything seemed to be happening at once and I wasn't sure what was going on any more. But Tyler's men quickly got over the initial surprise and launched their counter attack.

"Pidgeotto - use your Whirlwind!" I ordered as I struggled to hold off two thugs with the sling Marle had made for me.

"Espeon - Confusion!" Marle ordered. Then, her Umbreon took a bullet in the side and she promptly left off battling to go to his aid.

I ran after her and pulled her to the ground seconds before we were fired on. "Marle, are you crazy!" I demanded.

"But . . . Umbreon . . ." she objected tearfully.

It was hopeless. We were armed only with makeshift weapons while our opponents had guns, but I knew we couldn't just give up. We would keep fighting until Tyler was overthrown or die in the attempt. And, looking into Marle's eyes, I realised how she must feel - after all, I would have done the same for my Pokemon.

"All right," I said as I hurried to where her Umbreon lay. He was alive, but he was bleeding badly so I knew I had to get him off the battlefield.

* * *

**Drake**

A Freedom League member known as Oatmeal signalled to the rest of us from the roof of Dole's office. He had managed to get onto the roof undetected and was now using hand signals to relay the locations of the guards around the office.

The only thing I could see from our position in a ditch surrounding the office complex was Oatmeal. Suddenly, we heard the sounds of a battle coming from a couple of hundred feet away.

"That's the other group," I whispered. There were six people in our group, the leader being Grant Norman, who was the oldest at eighteen. The rest - Oatmeal, Harry, Jean and Terry - were kids compared to us; they were aged between twelve and fourteen.

Oatmeal's signalling again," Harry whispered.

Our eyes returned to the figure crouching on the roof. I didn't get every hand signal, but I got enough to know that the guards were hurrying to the battle.

"Drake and Jean, take out the guards - make sure they don't reinforce Tyler," Grant whispered. "Harry and Terry, come with me and help me free the staff."

We wished each other good luck and went about our work. Jean and I rushed out of the ditch and ducked behind a bush to wait for the moment to strike. Jean pulled out a Poke Ball, but I motioned for her to put it away.

"Not yet," I whispered. "I'll try to sneak out quietly. If things go awry, THEN you can back me up."

I watched the guards brush past a few inches from where we were sitting before leaping up and assaulting them with what turned out to be my weapon of choice, a makeshift staff made out of a broom handle. The wooden shaft caught the first guard's head as he ran past - luckily, his muffled "ouch!" didn't alert the other two guards.

With one guard knocked out, I swung the staff around and landed it square across a second guard's back - a follow-up blow to the head knocked him out as well. I looked up to find the remaining guard and felt a heavy boot in my face . . .

I shook stars out of my vision just in time to see the guard pull the trigger on his gun. But the bang that followed was not accompanied by any pain or impact - Jean's Scyther had leapt in from the side and knocked the guard down.

I quickly kicked him in the head to knock him out. "Thanks for covering my back," I said, grinning.

"That bang might have tipped off the other guards though," she replied.

I was halfway through saying I hoped not, when I caught a frantic motion out of the corner of my eye. I spun round to look at the roof of Dole's office and watched as Oatmeal fell courtesy of an unknown sniper.

I grabbed Jean's arm and dragged her into the bushes again, taking with me the guns belonging to the guards we'd clobbered. I handed one to Jean and we hit the deck, taking position to face the office complex from across the field.

Jean was swearing to herself. "Damn it, Oatmeal!" she said. "Why the hell didn't you get down!"

I kept my eyes out for any sign of Alpha Division reinforcements, Grant's team or the hidden sniper. We elt out our Pokemon to help detect any potential threat, but we made it clear to them that they weren't going to fight.

"Just lay low and let us know if there's any trouble," I said. "Come on, Grant - our cover's been blown," I muttered to myself. "Hurry up and get the hell out! We'll be here to cover you guys . . ."

I knew Grant couldn't hear me, but I kept whispering, urging our team out. I looked around in search of the sniper.

"I hope it's you, Grey," I muttered. "Because, when I find you, you're going to wish you were in Hell!"

* * *

**Melissa**

Meanwhile, I raced across the battlefiled with Marle's Umbreon in my arms. I still had no idea what I was going to do, just a vague notion of getting Umbreon to one of the huts where he could be treated.

I was so preoccupied that I didn't notice one of Tyler's thugs cock his gun on me. The buller rammed into my shoulder and I collapsed, still holding Umbreon. "Umbreon, I'm . . . sorry," I managed to gasp before I passed out from loss of blood.

The next thing I remember is waking up to find everyone gathered around me. Kohaku, holding a cloth against my forehead, smiled as I woke up.

"We thought you weren't going to make it," she said. "You've been out for two days."

Bit by bit, they filled me in on the outcome of the battle. Soon after I got shot, the Freedom League - who had been losing up till then - had a change in fortune and had started driving Tyler and his thugs back. Stan had cornered his brother in one of the huts and shot him through the heart using a gun he'd stolen.

"Well, he's no loss," he said, sounding as if fratricide was something he committed as a matter of course. "Let's just hope he's gone to a warmer climate . . ."

Drake then explained that Grey was dead too. "Killed by a stray bullet," he informed me. "And good riddance too, if you ask me - traitor! I only wish I'd been able to finish him off myself . . ."

The door banged open and Sidney Dole walked in. "Good to see you awake, Melissa," he told me. "We'll be spending the next few days rebuilding after Tyler's little coup - they've already started a bonfire to burn those portraits of himself that he hung in all the huts."

I sniffed. Sure enough, there was a faint smell of burning wafting through an open window. Hopefully, once the Location had been cleansed of Tyler's influence, we could begin again the task of building a new civilisation.

Dole sat down in a chair, his head in his hands. "I don't know how I could have misjudged that young man," he mourned. "If I'd known what he was capable of, I wouldn't have . . ."

Marle cut him short. "No," she said. "You're not a Timeseer, so you weren't to know what would happen. Let's look to the future now . . ."

* * *

**Drake**

Maybe the hardest part of the whole thing was the funerals, a quiet service out in the wilderness. Dole had managed to spare some concrete and wood, which he used to make a grand tombstone for all the people Tyler had killed. Off to the side, a few nondescript coffins contained the bodies of those Alpha Division insurgents who were killed. Though none of us were going to miss them, Dole felt they should at least be given a proper funeral.

After the service, I strolled up to Grey's coffin and stood silently for a while. I intended to say a few last "solemn" words, but now I couldn't find anything to say.

"You had to take there side, didn't you?" I said softly. "Too bad, old boy." As I walked away, I noticed Stan giving a similar ritual to Tyler.

"Now," I told myself, "the future beckons . . ."

Things went a lot smoother from that point on, although the old sense of timeless and boredom began to take hold again. The rebuilding began and the damage Tyler caused was slowly being repaired. We even got the bus back courtesy of a excursion by Stan, Steve and myself and I was doubly shocked to find Megavolt chewing up the leather interior. I was glad to have my Pikachu back.

It was about four weeks later when I found Dole having a chat with Marle, Stan and Melissa outside the offices.

"What's going on?" I asked as I approached the quartet.

"We're just getting some plans together for next year," Dole said with a smile. "I've analysed your reports on the outsiders and I think we should be able to take a few into the complex - reintroduce them to civilisation, eh? And we'll be finished upgrading by the end of the week."

Melissa gestured to the renovations going on around us. "So far, we've finished upgrading the medical facilities, the dining hall and the offices," she told me. "Just gotta upgrade the dorms and we're set."

"We'll be starting some farms too," Stan added. "We think there's some good land near here. Plus, we managed to make contact with a couple of remote military bases - seems they weathered the storm in their nuke shelters. We'll be meeting their leader in person any day now."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?" I asked. "How?"

"They managed to save enough fuel to last their airfleet another year or so," Stan replied. "We'll be expecting a helicopter or something. Anyway, we'll need a leader for the scout team we've assembled to check out the farmland. It's gonna mean twelve days in the wilderness - are you up to it, Drake?"

"Of course! Count me in!" I replied. "Gosh, it seems things are just gonna get better."

"They will," Marle said. "And we'll be right there, helping to piece the world back together again."

And, as I caught sight of the helicopter swooping low over the trees, a symbol of the future we were going to build, I knew that, once again, Marle was absolutely right.

* * *

**Melissa**

It was a time of new beginnings, of starting a new life untainted by the past. As if to underline this, the Pikachu belonging to Katie Fletcher - that girl from Epsilon Division I'd spoken to a couple of times - produced a baby Pichu. It was a little female and Katie named her Zoe, which means "life".

Slowly, minds bruised by crisis after crisis began to unwind and Marle, now that the immediate danger was over, stopped having so many visions of doom and became almost like the cheerful person she must have been before all this started. I also noticed that she was developing a close attachment to Leon.

"You and Leon seem to be getting on well," I told her one afternoon as we worked in the fields.

"I know," she said. "And you'll never guess what he told me . . ."

I had a pretty good idea, but I decided to let her tell me anyway.

Marle puffed out her chest proudly. "Well, he said he us to . . . you know . . . hang out together and be a couple," she informed me. "He said if things had been . . . if we'd met under different circumstances, we would be dating."

We looked at each other for a moment, both of us thinking about how much the world had changed in the time since we met on that plane. I was very happy for Marle and Leon and hoped they would live out their days together. There was only one thing that needed to be resolved.

"What about kids?" I asked.

"I'm not ready yet, but maybe in a few years' time," Marle told me.

"That's not what I mean. What happens if your kids turn out . . . like you?"

"You mean if they're Timeseers too? Well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

It's been fifteen years since then and the community we built is still thriving. And we don't just call it the Location any more because there was a vote where we had to choose a name to call it. In the end, we chose to call it the Nova Community because Nova means "new" and this was going to be a new community.

We've pretty much forgotten the old ways - things we used to take for granted like tv and computers are now consigned to history. Instead, we spend our time relearning old skills - we'll need to know how to knit and weave when the last of the clothes we brought here are worn out. As it is, we are starting to look decidedly scruffy.

Over the last few years, several kids have been born here - I've got a young son and daughter myself - and we intend to teach them to be good people who will co-operate with each other. That's why I've been teaching groups of them about the world the plague destroyed so they'll have something to compare their world to. It's not easy explaining things they will never experience for themselves, but it has to be done so that the past survives at least in legend.

We've even built a Pokemon Stadium which we use to train our Pokemon. My Pidgeotto and Sunflora are still alive, but they're getting on in years so I don't battle them any more. Instead, I've got a new Pidgeotto that hatched from one of the broods my first Pidgeotto produced here - I call him Speedy and he's one of the best fighters in the Nova Community.

One day, I was out in the fields with Kohaku and our respective kids when we started reminiscing about the old days.

"Remember when we went on the run?" asked Kohaku.

"Sure," I said, recalling that time. "That was when we had that fight with the street gang - remember?"

Kohaku nodded and we talked some more about what had happened over the years and how much the world had changed since we joined Project Alpha. I gazed towards the horizon, wondering if, by some miracle, my mum had also survived the plague. But, in my heart, I knew the odds were against it.

I looked at my watch - it no longer works because there aren't any batteries now, but I like to wear it anyway as a reminder of what I once knew.

"Guess we'd better be getting back," said Kohaku.


End file.
